A  RATIONAL   VIEW  OF  THE  DIVINE   WORD 

AND  OF 
THE  DUAL  NATURE  OF  MAN. 


£\br<xry  of  Che  theological  ^ewinarp 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


•a@i> 


PRESENTED  BY 


3  Estate  of  the 
.  John  B.     inger 
BL  240  .K37  1897 
Katholikos,  pseud. 
The  supernatural 


THE    SUPERNATURAL. 

H  National  tfliew  of  the  Mvinc  XKIlot^t 

AND   OF 

Ube  Dual  IRature  of  fl&am 


BY 

KATHOLIKOS. 


V'v       wh 


WITH   INTRODUCTION 

BY   THE 

REV.     J,     W.     REYNOLDS,     M.A. 

Prebendary  of  St.  Paul's. 


BOSTON  : 
LEE  AND  SHEPARD,  PUBLISHERS. 

1897- 


THIS    HUMBLE   ATTEMPT 

TO    BRING   TRUTH    HOME   TO   THE    HEARTS   OF 

INDIVIDUAL   MEMBERS    OF   THE   GREAT    HUMAN    FAMILY 

TO  THE  SONS  AND  DAUGHTERS  OF  GOD'S 
CHURCH    IN    ENGLAND 

IN    LOVING   MEMORY   OF 

A   FAITHFUL  SOLDIER   OF   THE    CROSS. 


PREFACE. 

The  writer  of  this  work  is  fully  aware  that  the  grave 
subject  which  is  presented  to  the  consideration  of 
the  reader  might  have  been  better  handled  by  a 
deeper  thinker ;  but  the  book  may  lead  some  to  study 
a  matter  which  is  often  regarded  as  not  in  harmony 
with  the  intellectual  development  of  the  age.  It  treats 
of  a  subject  which  is  of  the  very  highest  importance 
to  men,  on  account  of  its  direct  influence  upon 
character.  The  object  of  the  author  is  to  bring 
before  the  rising  generation,  in  as  simple  a  form  as 
possible,  the  fact,  which  scientific  writers  are  proving 
by  each  new  discovery  they  make,  that  there  is  not 
a  single  thing  in  creation,  great  or  small,  which  does 
not,  when  rightly  understood,  show,  per  se,  that  it 
was  made  by  One  who  had  all  power,  all  knowledge, 
and  all  skill ;  and  that  this  Maker  is  now,  as  in  the 
moment  of  creation,  unchanged  in  His  designs  and 
purposes.  The  same  laws  govern  the  universe  to  day 
as  governed  it  countless  ages  ago.    The  logical  con- 


vi  PREFACE 

sequence  of  this  fact  is  too  often  ignored,  even  if  it 
is  not  openly  denied. 

When  St.  Paul  said,  as  he  stood  on  Mars'  Hill, 
1  Ye  men  of  Athens,  in  all  things  I  perceive  that  ye 
are  somewhat  superstitious,  for  as  I  passed  along 
and  observed  the  objects  of  your  worship,  I  found 
also  an  altar  with  this  inscription,  To  the  unknown 
God :  what  therefore  ye  worship  in  ignorance, 
this  set  I  forth  unto  you,'  he  was  but  doing  what 
creation  is  doing  continuously  \  and  scientific  men 
unintentionally  endorse  the  proclamation  by  every 
new  fact  which  they  discover  and  unfold. 

It  may  be  that  as  their  love  towards  the  Author 
of  their  being  has  grown  cold,  He  has  withdrawn 
from  them  for  a  time,  and  left  them  to  substitute 
Nature  for  Nature's  God,  if,  as  free  agents,  they 
choose  so  to  do ;  but  it  will  not  be  always  so.  The 
Father  of  mankind  is  from  everlasting  to  everlasting, 
and  He  has  said,  '  For  a  small  moment  have  I  for- 
saken thee ;  but  with  great  mercies  will  I  gather 
thee.  In  a  little  wrath  I  hid  My  face  from  thee  for 
a  moment ;  but  with  everlasting  kindness  I  will 
have  mercy  on  thee.'  Meanwhile,  the  men  who 
are  working  in  spiritual  darkness  for  a  time,  with 
only  the  light  kindled  by  themselves  as  their  guide, 
are  doing  a  great  work  by  unveiling  the  hidden 
wonders  of  creation  ;  for  each  disclosure  is  a  fresh 
proof  of  the  wisdom  and  almightiness  of  the  eternal, 
unchanging  God. 


PREFACE  vii 

Two  Bishops  of  the  Church  of  England  have 
recently  made  the  statement  that  '  the  great  want 
of  the  age  is  a  belief  in  the  Supernatural.'  That 
it  is  so  all  thoughtful  members  of  the  Catholic  and 
Apostolic  Church  have  long  been  convinced.  To 
help  others  to  attain  to  a  clearer  knowledge  of  them- 
selves, and  in  so  doing  to  grasp  the  full  meaning 
of  eternity  and  immortality,  and  the  bearing  these 
must  have,  when  duly  realized,  upon  the  life  of 
man  in  time,  is  an  object  worth  aiming  at,  however 
short  of  the  mark  the  arrow  may  fall. 

Should  the  atheist  or  the  sceptic  condescend  to 
open  this  book,  the  writer  ventures  to  ask  him  to  take 
a  really  practical  and  unprejudiced  view  of  its  sub- 
ject; and  in  order  that  he  may  do  so,  to  place  him- 
self in  the  only  logically  fair  position.  That  position 
may  be  defined  (i)  negatively.  No  bias  of  the 
mental  nature  must  be  allowed  to  have  any  weight. 
No  opinions  of  other  men,  whose  theories  may 
have  come  under  consideration,  should  be  allowed 
to  have  more  influence  over  the  mind  than  evidence 
in  a  court  of  justice  has  on  the  minds  of  the  jurors 
until  they  have  heard  the  counter-evidence.  And 
there  must  be  no  '  begging  the  question,'  for  that 
is  the  coward's  part.  The  brave  man  will  look 
friend  or  foe  in  the  face,  say  what  he  thinks,  do^ 
what  he  believes  to  be  right,  and  take  the  con- 
sequences, whatever  they  may  be.  The  really  brave 
and   true   man  can  afford   to   be  beaten,  and  to 


viii  PREFACE 

acknowledge  that  he  is  vanquished;  because  true 
manliness  tells  him  that  no  one  can  do  more  than 
his  best,  and  having  done  that,  if  failure  come  it 
is  not  the  result  of  his  having  left  undone  what 
he  ought  to  have  done ;  whereas  the  coward  who 
shuffles  and  evades  questions,  even  if  he  succeed  in 
achieving  anything,  is  never  sure  of  the  ground  on 
which  he  is  standing ;  and,  if  he  fail,  would  rather 
tell  a  lie  than  admit  having  failed  through  any  fault 
of  his  own.  (2)  The  position  that  a  brave,  honest 
man  who  is  seeking  truth  must  take  may  be 
defined,  affirmatively,  in  a  few  words — he  must 
confront  Christ.  As  a  son  of  Adam,  and  a  lord  of 
creation,  let  him  take  the  place  of  judge,  and  try 
Christ,  not  after  the  fashion  of  Herod,  or  of  Pilate, 
but  as  a  just  and  honest  judge  would  try  a  person 
who  was  accused  by  an  avowed  enemy  of  a  crime 
of  which  the  life  of  the  accused,  so  far  as  it  was 
known,  rendered  it  impossible  to  believe  him 
guilty.  The  case  would  then  stand  thus — Jesus, 
the  Son  of  Mary,  a  daughter  of  the  house  of  David, 
claimed  to  be  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God,  the 
Maker  of  all  things,  visible  and  invisible ;  equal  to 
the  Father  as  touching  His  Godhead,  and  inferior 
to  the  Father  as  touching  His  manhood.  He 
claimed  to  be  the  second  Person  of  the  co-equal  and 
co-eternal  Trinity.  He  claimed  to  be  the  Messiah 
of  whom  the  prophets  wrote;  the  Redeemer  of 
fallen  man  ;  the  Royal  Child  who  was  to  be  born 


PREFACE  ix 

at  Bethlehem  ;  who  was  to  be  called  'Wonderful 
Counsellor,  the  Mighty  God,  the  everlasting  Father, 
the  Prince  of  Peace,'  and  of  whose  kingdom  there 
was  to  be  no  end.  Now  Christ  was  all  this,  higher, 
mightier,  and  holier  than  the  mind  can  conceive  or 
words  can  tell,  or  He  was — what  ?  One  dare  not 
put  into  words  what  He,  in  whom  His  judges, 
accusers,  and  murderers  could  find  no  fault  at  all, 
must  be,  if  He  were  not  God  Incarnate,  the  Saviour 
of  the  world. 

Let  all  honest  doubters  face  the  question — What 
was  the  Man  who  went  about  doing  only  good,  if 
He  was  not  the  Christ  of  God?  And  then  let 
them  try  to  prove  that  the  sacred  books  of  the 
Jews  are  modern  forgeries  like  the  Isidore  Decretals 
of  the  Papacy ;  that  the  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
is  but  an  interesting  fiction.  And  let  them  try  to 
give  adequate  reasons — that  will  satisfy  themselves 
and  others — for  believing  the  history  of  the  landing 
of  Caesar  in  the  British  Isles,  and  the  occupation  of 
those  isles  by  the  Romans  ;  and  for  disbelieving  the 
Life,  Resurrection,  and  Ascension  of  Jesus  Christ. 
The  result  would  be  a  glorious  triumph  ;  for  out  of 
the  darkness  would  shine  a  bright  light,  and  in 
that  light  they  would  surely  find  the  Author  of 
Light. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

INTRODUCTION        .....       xiii 

I.   THE   REALITY  OF   THE   SUPERNATURAL    .  .  I 

II.   THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT — GOD   IN    NATURE  .         46 

III.  THE   GREAT    PROCESSION   .  .  .  .Ill 

IV.  THE  GREAT   KINGDOM         ....       175 


INTRODUCTION. 

BY 

JOSEPH  WILLIAM  REYNOLDS,  M.A., 

Prebendary  of  St.  Paul's; 

Author  of  '  The  Supernatural  in  Nature,  a  Verification  by  Free  Use  of 
Science,'  '  The  World  to  Come.     Immortality  a  Physical  Fact,'  etc. 

This  book  is  remarkable  for  historical  illustra- 
tions, felicity  of  expression,  correct  reasoning,  and 
truthful  zeal.  It  is  not  a  laborious,  argumentative 
treatise  on  a  difficult  subject ;  but  an  intelligent, 
well-reasoned  explanation,  pleasant  and  easy.  A 
large  class  of  readers  will  find  it  not  less  interesting 
than  useful.  Every  thoughtful,  honest  reader  will 
derive  benefit  from  the  perusal.  The  four  chapters 
are  as  Gospels  of  the  Supernatural. 

Reality  of  the  Supernatural. 

The  writer  bravely,  and  with  not  less  skill, 
confronts  the  spirit  of  the  age  with  just  censure, 
for  being   in  doubt  as   to  that   very  thing  which 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

renders  existence  very  beautiful,  and  of  surpassing 
wonder. 

The  realities  revealed  by  Scripture,  and  of  which 
Creation  is  the  natural  veil,  are  those  supreme 
verities  which  awake  our  interest,  while  in  the 
body,  as  to  future  experience  when  out  of  the  body. 
Life,  which  gathers  the  particles  of  which  our  frame 
is  composed,  has  an  inner  light — the  soul ;  and  a 
spirit,  with  kindling  from  above,  that  gives  a  yet 
higher  essence.  This  higher  essence  not  only 
aggrandizes  our  mortality,  but  conveys  everlasting- 
ness.  It  renews  body  and  soul  at  the  resurrection 
into  the  likeness  of  Christ  in  Glory.  Events  like 
the  Conversion  of  St.  Paul  are  as  stars  in  earth's 
sky,  smiling  streamlets  from  the  higher  splendour. 

Abuse  of  knowledge  so  thickens  and  darkens  the 
material  veil  that,  to  the  natural  eye,  God  is  hidden, 
not  revealed  in  Creation.  Advanced  science  comes 
to  our  help,  and  reveals  that  Death  is  not  a  nothing- 
ness, nor  an  empty  space  whither  life  after  life,  and 
world  after  world,  are  carried  and  made  desolate ; 
but  peopled  with  many  sweet  influences.  These 
influences,  during  the  intermediate  state,  are  the 
seal  set  upon  our  completion.  Whatever  good 
exists  now  will  reappear  sometime,  somewhere ; 
nothing  is  lost. 

Present  attainments  are,  as  by  a  mountainous 
ascent,  achieved  with  cost  and  pain.  Summits 
attained  are  but  steps  to  higher  ascents.     Some- 


INTRODUCTION  xv 

times  mental  weakness,  evil  appetites,  make  us 
grovel.  The  superstitions  and  prejudices  of  a  self- 
satisfied  unbelief,  arising  from  the  narrowness  of 
merely  physical  investigation,  incapacitate  not  a 
few  for  full  completion,  and  achievement  of  life's 
great  honours.  They  lose  the  glory  of  a  knowledge 
that  conquers.  The  great  should  emulate  grand 
old  Abraham's  faith.  The  lowly  are  to  be  pure 
and  devout,  that  even  if  taken  from  the  rich  man's 
gate,  they  may  dwell  where  are  many  angels. 

We  cannot  rid  ourselves  of  the  Supernatural. 
The  standard  within  every  man  of  right  and  wrong 
is  an  impress  from  One  who  will  judge.  Our  hope  J 
and  fear  show  that  there  is  more  than  to-day,  more 
than  to-morrow,  to  be  cared  for ;  a  future  demands  I 
and  enforces  consideration.  In  vain  do  a  few 
individuals,  dreading  that  future,  endeavour  to  stifle 
the  thought  and  feeling  that  remind  them  of  it. 
The  difficulty  and  danger,  the  few  cases  in  which 
subterfuges  are  an  anodyne,  make  certain  the  un- 
naturalness,  and  failure,  of  trying  to  live  without 
regard  to  the  Supernatural.  We  cannot  help 
believing  in  the  unseen.  It  is  that  from  which 
Nature  came.  It  is  that  to  which  Nature  will  return. 
It  is  that  wherein  we  shall  be  perfected. 

Every  thing,  every  force,  is  conserved  :  there  is 
an  after-state  for  all.  The  nature  of  that  hereafter 
will  be  in  analogy  with  that  of  which  the  present  is 
capable.     The  individuality  of  every  kind  of  life,  or 


xvi  INTRODUCTION 

personality,  is  possessed  even  by  the  dead;  molecular 
motions  are  various  as  the  differences  of  structure ; 
and  these  naturally  influence  future  conditions.  If 
there  were  no  future  state,  we  could  not  think  of  it 
at  all.  Our  thoughts  of  that  state  arise  from  our 
noblest,  and  therefore  our  truest  faculties. 

The  Great  Sacrament  :  God  in  Nature. 

The  unity  of  matter  and  force  in  life  and 
sensation,  in  the  mental  and  moral,  are  a  sacramen- 
tal mystery.  The  different  elements,  most  different, 
are  made  into  the  structure — man.  He  is  an 
epitome  of  the  universe.  Divine  power,  life, 
thought,  are  writ  small  in  him. 

He,  a  living  temple,  is  naturally  furnished  with  a 
sense  of  the  Supernatural.  This  sense  often  rises 
into  a  felt  fulness  of  the  All  Great.  When  in  dark- 
ness he  yet  believes  and  says,  '  One  step  enough 
for  me,  if  Thou,  kindly  Light,  lead  on.'  The 
conscious  passage  from  Nature  to  Nature's  God  is 
sacramental  in  linking  the  human  soul  in  intimacy 
and  life  with  the  Eternal  Maker  and  Preserver. 
The  greatest  and  best  of  our  race  know  and  have 
known  by  rapturous  experience  in  thought,  in 
vision,  in  dream,  by  touch,  by  hearing,  of  Heavenly 
things  and  of  God  Most  High.  For  those  who  have 
not  had  this  experience  to  deny  it  is  to  assert  a 
fallacy :    that  the  greatest  thinkers  were  fools  the 


INTRODUCTION  xvii 

greatest ;  and  the  most  truthful  men  the  worst  of 
liars.  The  character  of  Christ  is  itself  enough  to 
brand  all  gainsayers  with  infamy. 

Advanced  science  regards  the  visible  glories  of 
Nature  as  relatives  of  the  invisible  powers  making 
them.     The  temporal  present  illustration  is  not  the 
first,   nor  is  it  the  last :  others  will  follow.     The 
past,  in  some  form,  is  in  the  now.     The  now,  in 
some  form,  will  characterize  the  future.   We  cannot  I 
think  of  Almightiness  coming  to  weakness  in  any  j 
of  His  works;  nor  of  the  Eternal  dying  in   any! 
timely  arrangements. 

The  Doctrine  of  Continuance  links  all  variety  to 
some  reality  of  existence.  Eternal  significance 
impresses  infinite  results  as  the  evergrowing  signal 
of  that  which  seems  even  the  very  least  in  power 
and  meaning.  What  then  can  limit  the  destinies 
of  man,  who  is  so  magnificent  ?  His  inner  unseen 
majesty  is  so  marvellous  that  the  brain  of  a  few 
inches  in  volume  pictures,  measures,  scientifically 
arranges  all  worlds.  The  sacramental  grace  is 
Divine. 

In  many  beautiful  facts  and  thoughts,  the  writer 
of  this  book  so  enforces  the  truth,  that  a  child  may 
know  a  Divine  achievement  is  around  us ;  that  the 
differences  of  form  working  variety,  as  they  are  in 
relation  to  and  governed  by  the  whole,  are  under 
Supreme  Rule.  All  spaces,  all  times,  all  phenomena, 
are   for    places,    durations,    structures,  further  on. 


xviii  INTRODUCTION 

The  greatest  effort  of  advanced  science  is  the  giving 
of  this  greatest  proof.  God  is  in  all,  and  will  not 
lose  a  fraction  of  that  all. 

The  Great  Procession 

Is  the  passage  of  the  powers  of  the  invisible 
world  into  manifestation  by  the  visible,  and  the 
return,  not  with  loss,  but  gain.  Darkness  and  Light 
are  both  emblems  of  the  greater  darkness  and  the 
greater  light  :  the  invisible  is  immeasurably  greater 
and  more  wonderful  than  the  visible.  The  proces- 
sion has  a  benediction  progressing  to  more  and  more 
glory.    Our  fears,  our  hopes  are  an  admonishment. 

That  which  Christ  was,  and  then  became  for  our 
sakes,  and  that  which  men  are,  show  the  tragedy  of 
life  as  represented  in  scenes  of  sin  and  death.  War 
in  Heaven  represents  an  earlier  origin  as  to  Sin  than 
the  Temptation  in  Paradise.  What  we  see  in  the 
stars  warrants  the  thought  that  some  things  in  them 
were  out  years  before  our  earth  was  formed.  The 
One  who  makes  the  Great  Atonement  is  so  Great 
that  He  recovers  for  ever  and  ever  that  which  was 
lost,  and  so  puts  every  part  to  rights,  that  the  whole 
is  carried  on  to  renewal.  Things  and  men  are 
entablatures  with  inscriptions  of  destiny,  not  as  of 
bondage  —and  there  is  the  glory — but  as  of  liberty 
by  the  Spirit  of  God. 

The  trials  the  faith,  the  graces,  the  gifts,  for 
discipline  and  adornment    of  the  Pilgrims;    their 


INTRODUCTION  xix 

dwellings  and  laws,  their  physical  and  spiritual 
parts,  progress  from  the  Eucharistic  character  to 
that  bodily  union  with  Christ  the  Great  Restorer, 
manifest  a  Supernatural  Power,  making  our  man- 
hood and  all  our  affairs  a  part  of  that  further  Divine 
transcendental  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  to  accept 
and  welcome  the  great  procession  from  earth  to 
Heaven,  from  Time  to  Eternity,  that  He  may 
glorify  Himself  in  all  things,  and  that  all  things 
may  be  glorified  in  Him. 

The  Great  Kingdom. 

The  inutility  of  whatever  is  done  apart  from  God, 
the  Redeemer  ;  the  devilish  destruction  wrought  by 
war  for  possession  of  the  earth  ;  the  painful  trials 
befalling  good  men,  show  that  the  way  of  the 
Cross  is  our  Highway,  the  King's  Road  to  Heaven. 
Creation  all  groaning,  and  men  all  enduring  the 
Cross,  show  how  strongly  the  Evil  Prince  garrisoned 
his  usurpations ;  but  the  drugging,  the  robbing, 
the  murdering  of  souls,  are  being  put  an  end  to. 
The  dawn-signs  of  the  Kingdom  appear.  Even 
those  who  teach  science  backward  find  that  Eternal 
Power,  present  everywhere,  is  a  Supernatural  Pre- 
sence, filling  noble  souls,  pure  hearts,  saintly  lives,  \ 
with  blissful  rest  and  jubilant  expectation. 

Nations  in  their  rise  and  fall,  cities  in  building  and 
in  ruins,  tell  of  efforts  and  failures,  of  struggles  by  all 
for  the  desired  and  permanent  Kingdom.     Mean- 


xx  INTRODUCTION 

while  wheat  and  tares,  good  and  evil,  demons  like 
demagogues,  grow  and  struggle ;  but,  alas !  evil 
ones,  their  hearts  failing  through  fear,  and  cursing 
God,  die.     The  Lord  Jesus  is  yet,  so  to  speak,  in 

'  humility  with  us.  The  great  Kingdom  is  being 
established  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  are  content 

,  to  share  His  lowliness,  and  account  the  shadow  of 
His  Cross,  and  the  bearing  the  lighter  part  of  it,  a 
glory — not  shame.  They  know  that  the  manifesta- 
tion draweth  nigh  when  they  will  be  priests  and 
princes  in  the  presence  of  God.  Every  natural 
thing  is  the  surface-form  of  that  which  is  vaster 
than  time.  Every  token  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  us 
is  part  of  a  life  that  death  cannot  touch.  All  the 
willing  are  being  made  by  faith  and  prayer,  by 
sanctification,  and  by  use  of  holy  ceremonies  to 
partake  sensibly  of  the  Divine  Nature.  They  enter 
the  Kingdom  by  the  Kingdom  entering  them. 

This  work  in  individual  hearts,  the  individuals 
forming  households — the  family  Church ;  these 
meeting  in  assemblies  of  the  people — the  national 
— the  country's  Church  ;  these  all  of  one  essential 
Faith  preached  unto  all  nations — the  Universal 
Church,  are  the  Body  of  Christ  in  its  members, 
small  and  great ;  the  particular  visible  and  in- 
visible Church  of  which  He  is  the  Head;  of  which 
He  is  the  central  Life,  nearer  to  us  than  our  own 
soul,  for  He  is  the  Life  of  that  soul ;  and  so  won- 
derfully not  only  Saviour  of  the  individual  body  and 


INTRODUCTION  xxi 

Church,  but  of  the  great  body,  the  great  Church, 
to  be  the  Shekinah  of  the  Divine  glory  in  the 
coming  kingdom.  Meanwhile  as  angels  ministered 
to  Christ  they  are  sent  forth  as  ministering  spirits 
to  children  of  the  Kingdom.  They  bear  souls  to 
Paradise.  The  Book  of  Revelation  tells  how  these 
spirits  have  new  names  ;  receive  a  white  stone  as  an 
imperishable  token  of  being  in  covenant,  and  their 
songs  seem  to  sound  in  our  ears  during  those  bliss- 
ful moments  in  which  we  realize  that  already  is  the 
kingdom  within.  Within  some  little  time  known  to 
the  Lord  there  will  be  a  wonderful  manifestation  to 
the  sons  of  God  of  the  greatness  and  the  everlast- 
ingness  of  His  kingdom  and  theirs. 

Pleasant  all  through  is  this  little  book  with  men 
beautiful  in  humility  and  glorious  in  exaltation, 
with  God  supremely  blessed  and  blessing :  the 
music  of  the  spheres  attuned,  and  everything  that 
hath  breath  giving  praise.  May  the  writer  of  the 
book,  and  every  reader  of  it,  take  part  in  all,  and 
dwell  with  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords  ! 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL. 

When  the  veil  which  seems  to  separate  the  seen 
from  the  unseen  is  raised  by  a  revelation  from  God 
to  man,  or  becomes  more  transparent  by  reason  of 
the  light  shed  abroad  by  the  Holy  Scriptures,  by 
the  discoveries  of  science,  or  by  a  study  of  man, 
glorious  visions  of  the  world  which  is  invisible  to 
that  wonderful  instrument  the  human  eye  are 
spread  out  before  us,  clear  as  the  sun.  Those 
visions  are  not,  as  some  profess  to  believe,  like  the 
mirage  of  the  desert ;  they  are  realities,  more  real 
and  enduring  than  the  substantial  things  of  the 
material  world  in  which  we  now  live. 

What  is  man?  Let  him  stand  forth  as  God 
made  him,  with  a  halo  around  him  of  intense  white 
light  issuing  from  the  Source  of  light.  We  shall 
see  that  he  is  a  tripartite  being,  consisting  of  body, 
animal  soul,  and  spirit.  The  spirit,  or  spiritual 
body,  is  the  soul's   indissoluble   companion,   and 

i 


2  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

together  they  make  the  '  inner  man.'  In  this  lies 
the  man's  personality,  his  individual  identity,  whether 
in  the  natural  body  or  out  of  it.  When  death  sets 
free  the  soul  and  the  spirit  from  that  part  of  man 
which  is  subject  to  corruption,  each  man  in  his 
distinctive  personality,  though  under  altered  con- 
ditions, goes  forth  into  another  stage  of  existence. 

In  the  mantle  of  clay  that  has  fallen  from  him, 
there  is,  however,  a  germ  which  will  at  the  appointed 
time  burst  into  life,  and  unfold  into  the  etherealized 
resurrection-body;  and  so  in  all  points  the  risen  man 
will  become  like  unto  his  Lord,  who  returned,  after 
preaching  to  the  spirits  in  prison,  to  put  on  again 
the  body  in  which  He  had  suffered  on  the  Cross. 
As  that  body  was  changed  in  its  character  when 
raised  from  the  tomb,  so  will  the  bodies  of  those 
who  sleep  in  Jesus,  and  the  bodies  of  the  saints 
who  are  alive  on  the  earth  at  the  second  coming  of 
Christ,  be  changed. 

We  must  go  to  God's  great  book  of  Nature  to 
learn  how  what  seems  impossible  to  man  is  possible 
to  God;  and  how,  by  the  working  of  His  un- 
changeable laws,  the  millions  who  have  lived  and 
died  as  the  ages  have  rolled  on,  and  whose  mortal 
bodies  have  been  resolved  into  their  original 
elements,  will  nevertheless  be,  throughout  eternity, 
their  own  identical  selves  as  truly  as  those  whose 
bodies  will  be  suddenly  changed  and  caught  up  to 
meet  the  Lord  in  the  air.     We  drop  an  acorn  into 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL       3 

the  earth  knowing  that  the  life  within  it  will 
be  cherished  there,  and  find  expansion  in  the 
unfolding  of  the  oak ;  and  so  our  bodies  are  com- 
mitted to  the  grave  in  sure  and  certain  hope  of 
a  joyful  resurrection.  It  is  an  old  and  beautiful 
belief  that  each  person  has  his  own  guardian  angel, 
and  as  we  are  told  that  the  angels  are  ministering 
spirits  sent  forth  to  minister  to  them  who  shall  be 
heirs  of  salvation,  it  may  be  that  to  their  care  the 
Great  Father  has  committed  the  germ  of  the . 
resurrection-body.  Are  they  not  the  '  reapers '  at 
the  end  of  the  world  ? 

It  is  often  when  hope  grows  dim,  when  health 
fails,  when  a  sense  of  lost  opportunities  brings  a 
dark  shadow  over  the  present,  and  when,  as  is 
sometimes  the  case,  a  look  back  into  the  past 
makes  the  spirit  fear  to  look  forward  into  the 
future,  that  the  veil  is  rent  by  the  mercy  of  God, 
and  we  see  and  feel  that  our  life  on  earth  is  but  the 
beginning  of  our  existence,  and  that  all  we  can 
learn  here  below — no  matter  to  what  heights  we 
may  attain  in  the  search  after  knowledge — only 
enables  us  to  see  as  through  a  glass  darkly,  unless 
light  from  the  Father  of  Light  opens  to  us  what 
lies  beyond  the  veil.  Then  it  is  that  things  tem- 
poral find  their  true  place  in  the  estimation  of  man, 
a  being  who  was  created  for  eternity.  In  this 
world  he  is  being  moulded  and  trained;  in  the 
next  he  will  be  what  the  deeds  done  in  the  body 


4  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

have  made  him,  and  he  will  occupy  the  place  for 
which  those  deeds  have  fitted  him. 

An  illustration  of  the  distinction  between  the 
higher  and  lower  parts  of  man's  nature,  as  well  as 
of  their  close  union,  may  be  found  in  the  narrative 
of  the  conversion  of  St.  Paul.  When  the  great 
light  from  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  shone  upon 
him,  as  he  journeyed  to  Damascus,  it  blinded  him. 
The  veil  was  then  upon  his  heart,  and  he  was 
walking  in  darkness ;  but  the  light  that  blinded 
him  to  the  things  of  earth,  and  closed  his  mortal 
eyes  to  the  familiar  objects  of  sight,  shone  upon 
the  'inner  man,'  and  showed  him  that  the  Flesh 
pierced  by  nails  and  lance  on  the  Cross  of  Calvary 
was  the  tabernacle  of  Deity — the  veil  which,  when 
torn  and  lacerated,  opened  to  man  'the  new  and 
living  way  consecrated  for  us.' 

Nearly  two  thousand  years  have  passed  since  the 
veil  that  rested  on  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures, 
which  prophesied  of  the  Redeemer  of  mankind, 
was  raised  by  their  fulfilment  in  the  person  of 
Christ.  He  came,  as  the  prophets  of  God  said  He 
would,  to  His  people  Israel,  to  '  His  own  ';  but 
they  'received  Him  not,'  for  their  materialistic 
views  were  as  a  thick  cloud  before  their  eyes,  and 
they  could  not  see  their  King  behind  the  veil  of 
flesh  which  He  took  in  order  to  live  among  them 
as  a  man.  They  looked  for  an  earthly  monarch 
who  should  raise  them  to  honour  and  glory  among 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL       5 

the  nations,  and  make  them  rulers  in  the  material 
universe.  They,  like  the  materialists  of  to-day, 
cared  more  for  the  visible  world  than  for  the 
invisible.  They  lived  for  what  they  saw,  and 
what  their  hands  could  handle,  and  so  they  could 
not  then,  even  as  men  cannot  now,  see  behind  the 
veil. 

As  time  rolls  on,  man's  knowledge  seems  to 
make  the  veil  grow  thicker  as  well  as  broader,  and 
now,  at  this  latter  end  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
the  world  will  believe  in  nothing  that  is  not  on 
this  side  of  the  veil,  and  within  reach  of  man's 
unaided  intellect.  Yet  it  is  as  true  as  it  ever  was, 
that  the  'natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of 
the  Spirit  of  God :  for  they  are  foolishness  unto 
him ;  neither  can  he  know  them,  because  they  are 
spiritually  discerned.  But  he  that  is  spiritual 
discerneth  all  things.'  Still  the  natural  man  walks 
on,  content  with  the  light  that  his  own  intellect 
has  kindled.  He  gazes  upon  the  things  which  are 
'seen  and  temporal/  until  he  persuades  himself 
that  the  things  which  are  '  not  seen '  and  are 
eternal,  are  but  'myths'  of  the  'dark  ages.'  Un- 
belief concerning  things  behind  the  veil,  things 
'supernatural,'  is  oftentimes  an  outcome  of  an- 
tagonism to  religion ;  but  such  unbelief  is  as  un- 
natural as  it  is  unscientific  and  illogical.  It  is 
unnatural  because  the  untaught  savage  has  some 
sense  of  spiritual  things,  however  debased  it  may 


6  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

be;  it  is  unscientific,  because  almost  every  new 
discovery  of  science  proves  the  existence  of  unseen 
power  and  design ;  it  is  illogical,  because  all  that  is 
seen  is  deducible  from,  and  controlled  by,  the 
unseen. 

A  savant  of  this  century  has  said,  '  If  men  would 
but  give  for  one  century  the  same  amount  of  effort, 
time,  and  labour  to  the  moral  sciences  and  study 
of  the  soul,  which  for  the  last  two  centuries  they 
have  bestowed  upon  the  physical  and  natural 
sciences  and  mathematics,  what  marvellous  and 
unforeseen  results  might  be  obtained  !  If  men  did 
but  perceive  ever  so  faintly,  concerning  the  soul, 
that  which  science  is  beginning  to  discover  as  to 
the  astronomical  constitution  of  the  universe — viz., 
that  it  is  a  vast,  invisible,  central  world,  taking  a 
visible  shape  in  some  of  its  results,  which  sooner 
or  later  will  solve  many  an  enigma — and  were  we 
less  superficial  in  our  meditations,  we  might  obtain 
some  insight  as  to  what  is  to  be  found  in  the 
depths  of  the  soul,  in  those  vast  invisible  depths 
which  we  too  studiously  shun,  into  which  we  too 
often  refuse  even  to  cast  a  glance.  The  farther 
natural  science  advances,  the  more  richness,  beauty, 
harmony,  the  more  wondrous  results,  worthy  of 
God's  hand,  it  discovers  in  the  visible  world ;  and 
surely  there  would  be  a  like  result  in  spiritual 
science.  They  who  seek  to  explore  its  depths  will 
assuredly  find  that  those  mental  regions  with  which 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL      7 

we  are  familiar  are  shallow   waters   as  compared 
therewith.' 

When,  as  is  the  case  in  these  modern  days,  men 
of  high  culture,  who  are  gifted  with  unusual  in- 
tellectual capacities,  and  who  lead  irreproachable 
lives,  divorce  religion  from  science,  we  can  but 
wonder  at  the  power  of  evil.  Those  who  have 
eyes  to  see  that  there  are  two  worlds  which  have 
one  supreme  Ruler,  stand  aghast  at  the  theory 
promulgated  in  this  age  of  the  world's  history,  that 
the  universe  may  have  sprung  into  existence  without 
a  sentient  Maker,  and  that  reasonable  beings,  evi- 
dently made  to  exercise  dominion  upon  earth,  are 
without  a  reasonable  Ruler.  To  compare  great 
things  with  small,  we  may  say  that  the  universe 
without  a  God  is  what  man  would  be  without  a 
head.  Man,  minus  a  brain,  what  is  he  ?  An  idiot 
asylum  gives  the  answer.  Creation  robbed  of  its 
God  is  truth  eclipsed,  a  diamond  suddenly  become 
dark,  space  without  a  pole-star;  and  man,  the 
crown  of  creation,  a  being  without  anchor,  rudder, 
or  compass;  a  being  endowed  with  free  will, 
dominion  and  power,  yet  a  mystery  to  himself  in 
life,  and  in  death  a  stranded  wreck  upon  the  shore 
of  time.  That  ignorance  should  lead  to  unbelief 
in  the  existence  and  creating  power  of  the  '  un- 
known God '  should  surprise  no  one.  That  know- 
ledge, acquired  by  studying  a  universe  which  in 
every  part  bears  proof  of  design,  and  of  adaptation 


8  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

to  the  requirements  of  organic  life,  should  fail  to 
recognise  a  Designer,  is  truly  marvellous.  In  the 
place  of  God,  some  great  leaders  of  modern  thought, 
men  of  lofty  intellect,  would  put  a  'primordial 
vapour.'  They  dethrone  the  Monarch  and  point 
to  a  vacant  throne.  So  men  who  do  not  look 
behind  the  veil  imagine  a  vacuum ;  for  them  there 
is  no  supreme  good,  no  fixed  standard  of  right  and 
wrong,  no  Governor,  no  infallible  Guide ;  they 
choose  to  be  a  law  unto  themselves.  Hence  the 
anarchy  and  confusion  which  are  seen  everywhere 
in  the  world  of  human  thought.  As  faith  dies  out, 
and  reason,  no  longer  guided  by  the  light  of 
conscience,  is  used  only  to  prove  that  man  is  an 
irresponsible  being — when,  in  short,  man  becomes 
the  slave  of  his  own  intellect — he  loses  the  freedom 
which  he  might  enjoy  as  a  son  of  God,  as  made  in 
the  image  of  God.  But  he  does  not  know  this. 
He  sees  that  his  body  is  fearfully  and  wonderfully 
made,  noble  in  design,  beautiful  in  form,  and 
perfectly  adapted  to  all  the  wants  and  requirements 
of  his  present  existence,  though  it  is  but  a  clod  of 
earth  when  that  which  he  calls  'life '  passes  from  it. 
Rather  than  believe  in  what  he  cannot  see,  he  is 
content  to  let  death  be,  as  it  were,  the  coping-stone 
of  the  structure  which  he  has  raised. 

The  failure  to  recognise  an  intelligent  Ruler  of 
reasonable  beings  is  doubtless  one  cause  of  the 
increasing  difficulties  with  which  statesmen  have  to 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL       9 

deal,  and  of  the  growing  evils  which  perplex  the 
philanthropist.  The  agnosticism  of  the  present 
age,  in  casting  the  dark  shadow  of  unbelief  over  the 
revelation  which  God  has  given  to  man,  is  sapping 
the  foundation  of  all  social  and  moral  order ;  and 
the  crude  theories  of  men  are  set  up  in  the  place 
of  eternal  truth.  In  all  this  is  seen  the  fulfilment 
of  prophecy,  which  '  sure  word '  predicts  the  increase 
of  knowledge  '  even  to  the  time  of  the  end.'  The 
New  Testament  tells  of  love  grown  cold,  of  faith 
eclipsed  in  the  latter  days,  and  of  the  second 
Advent  of  Christ;  just  as  the  Old  Testament  fore- 
told the  falling  away  of  the  Jews,  their  fate  among 
the  nations,  and  the  first  advent  of  Christ.  The 
veil  that  hid  the  Messiah  from  the  eyes  of  the 
Jews,  and  prevented  their  seeing  in  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy,  is  the  veil 
that  now  prevents  the  great  mass  of  mankind  from 
discerning  the  'signs  of  the  times,'  and  from  be- 
lieving in  the  reality  of  the  unseen  world.  It  is 
strange  that  knowledge  which  accomplishes  such 
great  things,  and  soars  so  high,  should  fail  to  pierce 
the  veil  through  which  wisdom  sees  so  clearly. 
Angels  might  weep  when  science,  which  should  be 
the  handmaid  of  religion,  severs  the  bond  that 
unites  them ;  for  then  the  veil  becomes  so  dark 
that  even  when  the  materialistic  astronomer  rises 
above  the  earth,  and  makes  the  stars  prove  the 
inspiration  of  the  Bible,   he   fails   to   realize  the 


io  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

significance  of  his  own  intellectual  achievement, 
and  knows  as  little  of  what  he  has  done  as  did  the 
Jews  when  they  crucified  their  Messiah. 

Alcyone,  the  supposed  centre  of  gravity  of  our 
solar  system,  and  the  brightest  of  the  seven  bright 
stars  which  form  the  group  called  by  the  Greeks 
'the  Pleiades,'  still  rolls  on,  exercising  the  tre- 
mendous force  which  draws  our  system  around  it, 
at  the  rate  of  422,000  miles  a  day,  in  an  orbit 
which  it  will  take  thousands  of  years  to  complete. 
This,  science  may  by-and-by  proclaim  as  an  ascer- 
tained fact,  and  thus  unconsciously  teach  what  is 
involved  in  the  simple  question  put  by  the  Creator 
and  Ruler  of  Alcyone  to  His  servant  Job  :  '  Canst 
thou  bind  the  sweet  influences  of  Pleiades  [Cima]  ?' 
That  old  Chaldean  word  Cima,  meaning  a  hinge, 
axle,  or  pivot,  is,  like  all  original  words,  full  of 
meaning.  Suns  and  worlds  revolve  around  that 
cluster  of  stars,  whose  rising  and  setting  indicated 
to  the  sailors  of  ancient  Greece  when  they  might 
undertake  a  voyage  with  safety,  and  so  they  called 
the  Cima  of  the  Chaldees  the  '  Pleiades.'  If  no 
other  question  had  been  put  to  Job  to  impress 
upon  him  the  difference  between  the  finite  under- 
standing of  man  and  the  infinite  mind  of  the 
Creator,  the  light  which  science  has  cast  upon 
the  vastness  of  God's  power  as  declared  in  this 
sentence  would  have  been  enough  to  make 
man   feel    his    own    nothingness,   and    bow   down 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL     u 

and   worship   Him   whose  ways    are  past    rinding  \ 
out. 

The  wisest  and  most  cultured  men  of  this  age, 
who  hold  that  creation  has  an  intelligent  Creator, 
regard  every  new  discovery  of  science  as  a  sacred 
thing — a  part  of  the  Temple  of  Truth.  Every 
new  fact  that  is  elicited  by  patient  investigation  is 
received  as  an  important  addition  to  the  building, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  there  is  so  strong  an 
affinity  between  science  and  religion,  such  an  in- 
timate union  of  the  spirit  and  the  body,  that 
sooner  or  later  the  material  and  the  immaterial 
will  be  recognised  as  one  harmonious  whole,  at 
least  by  those  who  do  not  allow  their  theories  to 
override  facts.  The  value  of  the  bodily  senses  in 
investigating  truth  cannot  be  over-estimated  ;  and 
it  must  always  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  is  on  the 
evidence  of  the  senses,  as  well  as  through  revela- 
tion, that  the  belief  in  the  '  supernatural '  is 
maintained.  It  may  be  an  easy  thing  for  a  man 
to  deny  the  existence  of  things  which  he  has 
never  seen,  but  it  is  not  easy  to  convince  a  man 
who  has  looked  through  a  telescope  that  there  are 
no  stars  in  space  but  those  which  can  be  seen  by 
his  naked  eye.  How  much,  it  may  be  asked, 
would  the  great  mass  of  mankind  know  on  any 
subject  if  they  only  received  what  should  be 
demonstrated  to  each  person  individually?  One 
who  knew  nothing  of  chemistry  would  deny  the 


12  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

presence  of  any  solid  substance  in  two  perfectly 
clear  fluids  ;  but  a  chemist  might  convince  him 
that  solid  matter  was  there  by  mixing  the  two 
fluids,  and  these,  acting  upon  each  other,  would 
cause  the  solid  matter  held  in  solution  to  be  pre- 
cipitated, and  form  a  dense  substance.  In  that 
case  the  evidence  of  the  bodily  senses  would  put  an 
end  to  incredulity ;  and  why  should  not  the  evi- 
dence of  those  senses  be  received  when  they 
testify  to  supernatural  appearances  and  incidents, 
which  honest  and  critical  observers  believe  to  be 
as  real  as  any  natural  object  ?  On  other  subjects 
there  would  be  accorded,  by  those  who  did  not 
feel  able  at  once  to  believe,  a  deferred  judgment,  an 
exhaustive  inquiry,  and  at  least  a  provisional  ver- 
dict ;  but  in  the  case  of  the  supernatural,  evidence 
that  would  be  deemed  conclusive  in  relation  to 
any  other  subject  is  set  aside  as  illusive ;  there  is  a 
contemptuous  dismissal  of  the  whole  matter,  with 
a  condemnation  of  its  advocates.  When  a  clever 
man  of  science  announces  the  results  of  his  study 
to  the  world,  all  who  are  ignorant  of  the  subject, 
and  who  have  neither  the  talent  nor  the  opportunity 
to  acquire  the  necessary  knowledge,  agree  to  receive 
his  statements,  and  they  bow  down  before  the 
might  of  his  intellect.  A  geologist  does  not  dis- 
pute the  correctness  of  the  calculations  of  an 
astronomer;  nor  does  an  astronomer  doubt  the 
truth  of  a  geologist's  statements.     Both  know  and 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL     13 

admit  that  each  must  understand  the  subject  which 
he  has  made  his  special  study  better  than  one  who 
has  been  seeking  knowledge  of  another  kind,  in  a 
different  part  of  the  great  field  of  the  universe. 
In  days  when  the  increasing  light  of  knowledge 
should  cause  prejudice  to  disappear  as  stars  before 
the  rising  sun,  those  who  have  made  psychology 
their  study  ought  to  be  met  on  the  same  ground. 
Ignorance  of  a  subject  which  gives  man  higher 
hopes,  clears  away  some  of  the  mists  and  vapours 
that  hang  about  him  in  this  lower  stage  of  exist- 
ence, and  raises  the  veil  that  obscures  the  know- 
ledge of  his  tripartite  nature,  is  to  be  deplored,  if 
only  because  such  ignorance  must  keep  men  on  a 
low  level,  from  which  clearer  light  and  advancing 
knowledge  would  raise  them. 

It  would  be  deeply  interesting  to  know  the 
source  of  the  truths  that  Homer  and  Virgil  em- 
bodied in  their  verse,  and  whence  they  derived 
their  ideas  of  the  spirit  world.  Later  on  Dante 
takes  up  the  theme.  Through  all  the  dreams  of 
the  writers  of  the  classic  epics  there  is  to  be 
traced  the  one  key-note.  The  foundation-stone 
of  the  elaborate  column  which  each  great  poet 
has  raised  is  the  same,  and  it  is  the  same  as  that 
found  in  the  sacred  poetry  of  the  Jews.  It  is 
more  clearly  developed  in  the  words  and  acts  of 
Him  who  was  crucified  on  Calvary,  and  still 
further  elaborated  in  the  Pauline  Epistles.    Around 


i4  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

the  one  mysterious  truth  which  enters  into  all 
mental  superstructures  there  have  clustered  an 
ever-increasing  number  of  related  truths.  They 
come  from  the  unseen  world — they  testify  to  the 
reality  of  that  world.  Thus  has  faith  been  kept 
alive  and  strengthened ;  and  thus,  from  time  to 
time,  have  the  minds  of  men  been  led  towards 
the  borders  of  the  spirit-land,  where,  resting  for 
awhile,  they  have  learned  much  that,  in  the  rush 
and  hurry  of  the  world,  they  could  not  have 
otherwise  learned. 

It  is  a  great  mistake  to  think,  as  so  many 
appear  to  do,  that  but  little  is  revealed  to  us 
in  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  invisible  world  and 
its  inhabitants.  All  that  anyone,  who  regards 
man's  short  life  on  earth  as  a  preparation  for  a 
higher  state  of  existence,  can  want  to  know  is 
plainly  stated.  He  is  told  that  the  invisible  part 
of  his  nature  is  immortal,  clothed  for  a  time  with 
a  mortal  body,  which  he  is  to  care  for  and  keep 
undefiled  until  the  moment  arrives  when  he  must 
leave  it,  and  go  to  the  place  for  which  the  deeds 
done  in  the  body  have  fitted  him.  He  is  told  that 
good  and  evil  are  in  the  world,  and  that,  having 
been  made  in  the  image  of  God,  he  is  capable  of 
knowing  what  is  right  and  what  is  wrong,  and  that  he 
is  free  to  choose  the  good  and  to  refuse  the  evil. 
He  is  told  that  there  are  evil  spirits  under  the 
dominion   of  a  great   fallen   archangel,  and   that 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL     15 

these  tempt  men  to  sin.  Also  that  there  are  good 
angels  ever  ministering  to  him,  influencing  his 
thoughts,  protecting  him  in  the  midst  of  unseen 
dangers,  and  warding  off  evil.  Incidents  illustrat- 
ing these  truths  are  to  be  found  in  all  parts  of  the 
inspired  writings,  and  anyone  who  will  open  his 
Bible,  and,  with  the  help  of  a  concordance,  care- 
fully read,  cannot  fail  to  apprehend  something  of 
that  invisible  world  in  which  man  is  a  great  central 
figure.  He  belongs  to  two  worlds — two,  yet  one — 
the  visible  and  the  invisible,  the  material  and  the 
spiritual.  Such  an  earnest  and  sincere  reader  will 
find  himself  in  the  position  of  a  mountaineer  who, 
after  toiling  up  a  steep  ascent  from  some  low  land, 
reaches  a  plateau  on  which  he  can  rest  awhile,  and 
study  the  wonders  and  glories  of  the  hitherto 
unknown  region  that  is  spread  out  before  him. 
There  he  may  learn  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
'unseen  world'  have  organisms  like  his  own.  The 
nature,  the  office,  the  duties,  and  the  character- 
istics of  the  holy  angels  are  minutely  described 
by  an  unerring  guide,  who  shows  him  how,  when 
the  first  Adam  fell,  angels  barred  the  way  back 
to  Eden  with  their  flaming  swords  ;  how  they  sang 
when  the  Second  Adam  took  our  flesh  and  dwelt 
among  us ;  how  they  ministered  to  Him  in  the 
wilderness  and  in  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane  ;  and 
how  they  rolled  away  the  stone  from  the  mouth 
of  the  sepulchre  when  He  rose  victor  over  death 


i6  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

and  the  grave.  Angels  were  entertained  by 
Abraham,  took  Lot  out  of  Sodom,  and  carried 
the  poor  man  who  lay  at  the  gate  of  Dives  to 
rest  in  the  bosom  of  Abraham.  At  the  last 
great  day  angels  are  to  go  forth,  as  reapers,  to 
separate  the  tares  from  the  wheat,  and  they  are 
to  accompany  the  Son  of  Man  when  He  comes 
to  sit  upon  the  throne  of  His  glory. 

Of  the  angels  that  sinned  it  is  written,  that  they 
were  cast  down  to  hell,  and  delivered  into  chains 
of  darkness,  to  be  reserved  unto  judgment ;  and 
of  those  evil  spirits  that  possessed  man  in  the 
olden  time  the  student  learns  enough  to  know 
that  their  subtle  organisms  enable  them  to  enter 
into  man  and  dwell  in  him,  tempting  him  to  evil, 
torturing  him  to  madness,  and  afflicting  him  with 
bodily  disease. 

The  starting-point  for  each  individual  is  his 
natural  birth.  Before  him  are  two  roads.  Evil 
cannot  harm  him,  or  soil  his  garments,  unless  he 
stretches  forth  his  hand  and  takes  it  to  his  bosom, 
and  makes  it  his  own;  neither  is  good  forced 
upon  him  against  his  will.  He  is  free,  and  by 
his  own  act  stands  or  falls.  Heaven  and  hell  are 
set  before  man  as  the  termini  of  the  journey  he 
has  to  take. 


Once  to  every  man  and  nation  comes  the  moment  to  decide 
In  the  strife  of  Truth  with  Falsehood  for  the  good  or  evil 
side, 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL     17 

Some  great  cause,  God's  new  Messiah,  offering  each  the 

bloom  or  blight, 
Puts  the  goats  upon  the  left  hand,  and  the  sheep  upon  the 

right, 
And  the  choice  goes  by  for  ever  'twixt  that  darkness  and 

that  light.' 

But,  besides  heaven  and  hell,  there  is  an  inter- 
mediate state,  called  Hades,  into  which  man  enters 
when  death  sets  him  free  from  the  body.     Thither 
the  Lord  Jesus  went  after  His  decease  ;  and  in  that 
part   of   Hades  which  is    known  as  Paradise    the 
penitent  thief  met  his  Redeemer.     It  is  the  place 
where  Abraham,  Isaac,   and  Jacob  were  located, 
for  of  them  Jesus  said  :  '  God  is  not  the  God  of 
the  dead,  but  of  the  living.'     It  is  the  place  where 
the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect  rest  from  their 
labours ;  and  where  the  souls  of  the  martyrs,  robed 
in  white,  wait  until  the  number  of  the   elect  is 
made  up.     It  is  the  place  to  which  the  daughter 
of    Jairus   went   when    death    touched    her,    and 
whence  her  spirit  came  again  when  He  who  con- 
quered death  called  her  back  to  earth.     It  is  the 
place  where  the   spirits    of   Lazarus,   and  of  the 
widow's  son,  dwelt  for  a  time  until  the  commands 
( Arise  !'   '  Come  forth !'  were  given   by  Him  who 
holds  the  keys  of  Hades.     It  is  the  place  where  the 
beggar  Lazarus  was  when  the  rich  man,  from  his  place 
of  torment,  prayed  for  a  drop  of  water  to  cool  his 
tongue.     During  his  trial  time  on  earth  Dives  had 
not  given,  out   of   the  abundance  of  his  wealth, 

2 


1 8  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

even  the  crumbs  which  fell  from  his  table  to  feed 
the  hungry.  He  was  clothed  in  purple  and  fine 
linen,  but  he  did  not  clothe  the  naked ;  he  lived 
for  this  world  only,  and  when  he  had  to  leave  it  he 
found  himself  far  away  from  the  rest  and  the  peace 
of  those  who  are  pronounced  'blessed.'  The 
parable  of  Dives  and  Lazarus  teaches  much  more 
than  superficial  readers  imagine,  and  it  furnishes  a 
most  important  link  in  the  chain  that  stretches 
from  the  throne  of  God  to  His  footstool.  There 
is  a  very  general  belief — idea  would,  perhaps,  be 
the  better  word  to  use — that  there  is  a  sudden 
change  in  man  at  the  moment  of  death.  No 
greater  sophism  was  ever  propounded,  for,  as  Bishop 
Butler  says,  'Our  organized  bodies  are  no  more 
ourselves  or  part  of  ourselves  than  any  other  matter 
around  us.'  The  material  body  drops  off;  the 
dress  in  which  man  fights  the  battle  of  life  wears 
out  and  falls  to  pieces,  but  the  man  himself  goes 
forth,  in  full  consciousness  and  activity,  his  identity 
preserved  in  the  spirit  frame  that  environs  his  soul, 
with  all  his  senses  expanded,  and  retaining  all  his 
old  memories.  The  parable,  or,  as  is  very  com- 
monly believed,  the  narrative  of  two  actual  lives 
thus  given  by  Christ,  indisputably  teaches  all  this. 
St.  Paul  was  caught  up  to  the  third  heaven  while 
his  natural  body  was  on  earth.  On  the  Mount  of 
Transfiguration  Moses  and  Elias  were  seen  talking 
to  Jesus  of  His  death,   which  was  shortly  to  be 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL     19 

accomplished;  and  to  the  dying  martyr,  St.  Stephen, 
extended  power  of  sight  was  granted,  so  that  he 
was  enabled  to  see  Jesus  'standing  at  the  right  hand 
of  God.' 

This  is  but  a  small  part  of  what  may  be  gathered 
from  the  pages  of  Revelation  on  a  subject  which  is 
of  vast  importance  and  supreme  interest,  but  it  is 
more  than  enough  to  prove  to  all  who  believe  that 
the  Bible  contains  a  revelation  from  God  to  man, 
that  man's  career  is  a  progressive  one  from  the 
beginning ;  that  he  is  not  left  in  ignorance  of  his 
future  condition  after  his  so-called  death ;  that  he 
is,  when  absent  from  the  body,  a  conscious,  active 
being,  with  the  same  organisms  as  when  in  the 
body,  but  those  organisms  so  spiritualized  that  he 
is  not  subject  to  the  laws  of  matter  (according  to 
our  present  knowledge  of  those  laws),  and  there- 
fore can  traverse  space,  and  become  visible  to 
mortal  vision,  and  even  speak  so  as  to  be  heard 
by  mortal  ear,  whenever  the  Lord  wills  or  permits. 
Whoever  receives  the  testimony  of  the  Scriptures 
must  admit  that  what  has  been  in  one  age,  may  be 
in  another,  and  that  all  the  supernatural  events 
recorded  in  later  times  have  their  prototypes  in 
Scripture  narratives. 

The  elevating  effect  of  a  belief  in  the  reality  of 
the  supernatural  can  only  be  understood  by  those 
who  have  gone  to  the  Fountain  of  Truth,  or  have 
looked   beyond  the   veil;   but   let   any  intelligent 


20  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

thinker  ask  himself,  What  is  left  to  us  when  the 
supernatural  element  is  eliminated  ?  There  would 
then  be  the  material  universe,  without  any  great 
sovereign  mind  to  set  each  star  in  its  orbit,  and  to 
order  its  course.  There  would  be  our  planet 
Earth  in  motion  without  any  sentient  controlling 
power  j  and  its  myriads  of  human  beings  coming 
into  existence,  to  suffer,  to  sin  and  to  die — to  drop 
into  the  grave,  and  in  a  little  while  crumble  into 
dust.  Many  only  live  to  endure  toil,  poverty  and 
disease;  and  if  there  is  no  ground  for  the  belief 
in  something  better  and  nobler  and  more  enduring 
than  the  present  life  and  its  surroundings,  by  what 
principle  of  supposed  right  and  wrong  can  any  man 
be  blamed  for  saying  that  he  has  as  much  right  to 
the  good  things  of  this  life  as  his  neighbour  has  ? 

It  may  be  broadly  stated  that  even  the  vague, 
shadowy  belief  held  by  the  masses,  that  there  are 
such  things  as  'ghosts,'  'haunted  houses'  and 
1  warnings,'  and  that  when  they  die  they  will  be- 
come angels,  and  go  to  some  place  where  cold  and 
hunger  will  not  be  felt,  where  they  will  be  able  to 
rest,  is  an  incalculable  good.  All  this  hazy  faith, 
varying  in  degree  according  to  the  weaker  or  firmer 
grasp  which  each  individual  mind  has  of  the  funda- 
mental truth — that  there  is  one  great,  loving  Father 
of  all,  who  will  make  the  crooked  ways  smooth, 
and  put  all  straight  some  day — maintains  things  as 
they  are.      Eliminate  all  that  the  Bible  and  the 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL    21 

Church  have  taught ;  all  that  theologians  have 
believed,  and  those  who  have  lived  holy  and  useful 
lives,  who  have  done  most  good  for  the  poor  and 
for  their  country,  whether  as  priests,  as  statesmen, 
or  as  soldiers  ;  blot  out  all  superstition,  and  with 
it  the  deep  truths  which  underlie  it ;  and  in  place 
of  all  this  give  to  mankind  the  creed  that  some  men 
hold,  and  a  state  of  chaos  would  be  the  result,  of 
which  it  makes  the  brain  reel  to  think.  The  men 
who  believe  in  nothing  but  what  they  see  and 
understand,  or  think  they  understand,  and  whose 
idea  of  immortality  is  that  their  own  knowledge 
will  live  on  in  the  minds  of  those  who  shall  come 
after  them,  are  comparatively  few  in  number. 
Their  ideas  of  morality,  justice  and  truth  (whence 
are  they  derived  ?),  their  intellectual  pursuits  and 
their  cultured  tastes,  may  keep  them  on  a  high  level ; 
but  without  their  knowledge,  and  also  without  the 
faith  and  hope  of  the  Christian,  what  must  the 
condition  of  the  masses  be?  The  only  logical 
sequence  of  unbelief  in  the  supernatural  is  anarchy 
and  rebellion,  each  man  for  himself,  the  strongest 
to  the  fore,  the  weak  to  the  wall ;  in  a  word,  the 
fate  which  befell  old  Rome  when  her  citizens  lost 
their  faith  both  in  man  and  in  the  gods. 

It  has  been  the  fashion  of  the  nineteenth  century 
to  speak  of  mediaeval  times  as  the  '  dark  ages,'  but 
as  a  belief  in  the  supernatural  lies  at  the  root  of 
all  belief  in  the  Christian  faith,  and  as  to  under- 


/i 


r 


22  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

mine  the  one  is  to  destroy  the  other,  future  gene- 
rations will  perhaps  find,  when  weighing  cause  and 
effect,  that  the  age  in  which  belief  in  the  super- 
natural degenerated  into  superstition,  formed  a 
brighter  epoch  in  the  history  of  man  than  the  age 
of  reason,  which,  with  all  its  knowledge  and  oppor- 
tunities of  finding  Truth  in  the  light  that  knowledge 
kindles,  grew  morally  dark  as  Faith  became  eclipsed. 
As  soon  as  man  closes  his  eyes  to  all  save  material 
things,  he  is  as  a  caged  bird,  and  the  loftiest  in- 
tellect will  not  enable  him  to  soar  beyond  the 
material  network  by  which  he  has  surrounded  him- 
self. Thus  he  becomes,  unconsciously,  a  living 
illustration  of  what  Bacon  calls  '  the  apotheosis  of 
error.' 

It  is  admitted  by  all  that  a  good  solid  foundation 
is  essential  to  every  building.  If  the  shaft  and 
capital  of  a  column  are  to  stand,  the  plinth  must  be 
immovable.  This  is  a  law  which  admits  of  no 
variation  in  the  material  world,  and  it  will  be  found 
to  hold  also  in  the  spiritual  world.  The  man  who 
attempts  to  build  up  any  hypothesis  upon  other 
foundation  than  unalloyed  Truth,  will  sooner  or 
later  discover  that  he  has  been  building  upon  sand. 
The  superstructure  may  be  beautiful  to  the  eye, 
and  look  well  in  the  spring-time  of  life;  it  may 
last  while  summer  lasts,  and  the  slanting  rays  of 
the  autumnal  sun  may  gild  its  stones,  and  cause 
them  to  seem  what  the  builder  thought  they  were 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL    23 

when  he  fixed  each  in  its  place  ;  but  when  the 
winds  of  winter  blow  and  beat  upon  it,  and  rain 
descends  from  above,  and  the  floods  come,  the 
building  falls.  A  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit,  and  it 
would  seem  that  many  who  have,  during  past  years, 
been  sowing  the  seeds  of  knowledge  have  not  sown 
in  the  right  soil,  for  in  the  rank  luxuriance  of  leaves 
and  blossoms  there  is  an  almost  universal  indica- 
tion that  the  fruit  will  not  prove  to  be  good.  The 
seed  sown  may  have  been  good  of  its  kind,  but, 
lacking  the  support  it  needed  for  its  perfect 
development,  its  end  is  withered  leaves  and 
cankered  blossoms.  To  drop  metaphor,  just  as 
man  must  have  a  standard  by  which  to  measure 
distances,  and  to  weigh  quantities,  and  as  without 
such  a  standard  there  would  be  no  possibility  of 
defining  the  true  and  the  false,  so  in  morals  there 
must  be  a  fixed  standard  of  right  and  wrong. 
That  standard  can  only  be  fixed  by  one  who  is 
omniscient.  Those  who  know  that  they  are  liable 
to  err,  even  when  striving  to  do  what  is  right,  know 
also  that  no  standard  of  right  and  wrong  which  they 
could  set  up  would  stand  the  test  of  being  ex- 
amined and  dissected  by  other  men ;  for  however 
exalted  the  standard  might  be  in  the  eyes  of  him 
who  originated  it,  of  others  like-minded,  or  of  those 
on  a  lower  moral  and  intellectual  level,  it  would  fall 
far  short  of  perfection  when  the  rays  of  light  from 
a  clearer  conscience,  and  a  loftier  intellect  crowned 


24  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

with  humility,  fell  upon  it.  No  man  can  set  up 
an  infallible  standard  for  his  fellow-man  which  all 
must  acknowledge  to  be  the  true  one,  and  by 
which  all  must  be  judged ;  this  the  God-man  alone 
can  do. 

All  Christians  would,  of  course,  receive  this  pro- 
position without  hesitation  ;  but  if  those  who  are 
not  Christians  would,  for  the  sake  of  argument, 
receive  it  hypothetically,  and  then  work  out  the 
problem  honestly,  Faith  and  Reason  would  be  found 
by  many  of  them  to  be  twin  stars,  each  reflecting 
the  light  derived  from  the  Source  of  light.  Assum- 
ing, then,  that  there  is  an  unassailable  standard  of 
right  and  wrong,  where  is  it  to  be  found?  The 
answer  is,  '  In  the  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.'  As 
the  accusers  of  the  adulteress  disappeared  when 
the  words  were  spoken,  '  Let  him  that  is  without 
sin  among  you  first  cast  a  stone  at  her,'  leaving,  as 
St.  Augustine  says,  'two  things  alone  together, 
misery  and  mercy,'  so,  one  by  one,  each  noble  soul, 
no  matter  what  creed  is  held,  must  bow  down  and 
confess  that  there  is,  and  must  be,  something  far 
higher,  and  purer,  and  nobler  than  himself  or 
things  around  him  ;  something  or  someone  which 
all  that  is  good  and  great  in  his  own  nature  is 
yearning  after.  In  the  history  of  a  world  ruined  by 
sin,  only  one  perfect  Man  has  appeared.  Pure  and 
undefiled  He  stands  forth,  perfect  in  holiness. 
While  gentle  and  obedient  to  man's  law,   He  yet 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL    25 

appears  on  the  Mount  of  Beatitudes  as  the  unerring 
Lawgiver.  From  the  sepulchre  He  comes  forth 
as  the  Victor  of  Death  ;  and  from  the  heaven  to 
which  He  has  ascended  He  calls  upon  his 
brothers  and  sisters  to  follow  Him.  He  is  the  I 
standard  for  man,  and  men  will  look  in  vain  for 
another. 

When  the  outlook  over  the  whole  civilized  world 
is  gloomy,  and  the  dawn  of  a  revolutionary  epoch  . 
is  discernible  everywhere ;  when  inch  by  inch  the 
standard  of  morality  is  lowering  to  suit  the  tastes 
and  habits  of  the  two  extremes  of  the  social  scale ; 
when  what  is  expedient  in  legislation  is  substituted 
for  what  is  right ;  when  knowledge  that  will  enable 
a  child  to  '  get  on '  in  the  world  is  compulsory,  and 
the  teaching  is  withheld  which  would  enable  the 
young  and  plastic  mind  to  realize  that  truth  is 
better  than  falsehood,  and  honest  labour  is  more 
honourable  than  what  is  designated  '  sharp  prac- 
tice,' the  primary  cause  of  retrogression  is  not  far 
to  seek.  It  is  found  in  the  fact  that  man  has  sub- 
stituted a  lower  standard,  the  outcome  of  his  own 
knowledge,  for  the  higher  standard  fashioned  by 
the  wisdom  of  God.  The  lowering  of  this  standard 
is  but  the  natural  consequence  of  the  non-recog- 
nition of  the  supernatural ;  for,  as  has  been  well 
said,  '  In  some  sense  of  the  supernatural,  in  some 
faith  in  the  unseen,  in  some  feeling  that  man  is 
not  of  this  world,  in  some  grasp  on  the  Eternal 


26  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

God,  and  on  an  eternal  supernatural  and  super- 
sensuous  life,  lies  the  basis  of  all  pity  and  mercy, 
all  help,  and  comfort,  and  patience,  and  sympathy 
among  men.  Set  these  aside,  commit  us  only  to 
the  natural,  to  what  our  eyes  see  and  our  hands 
handle,  and,  while  we  may  organize  society  scien- 
tifically, and  live  according  to  "the  laws  of  nature," 
and  be  very  philosophical  and  very  liberal,  we  are 
standing  on  the  ground  on  which  every  savage 
tribe  stands,  or  indeed  on  which  every  pack  of 
wolves  gallops.' 

No  one  who  thinks  seriously  on  this  momentous 
subject  can  fail  to  see,  that  the  ultimate  issue  of  the 
conflict  between  Christianity  and  unbelief  must 
turn  on  the  admission  or  denial  of  the  super- 
natural, and  that  such  a  denial  is  also  a  denial  of 
God.  But  the  prayer,  '  Father,  forgive  them,  for 
they  know  not  what  they  do,'  has  never  ceased, 
and  never  will  cease,  until  the  last  man  who  is  to 
be  saved  is  saved  ;  for  the  purpose  of  God  is  un- 
changeable, and  is  unaffected  by  the  ebb  and  flow 
of  man's  belief.  That  purpose  is  that  '  all  men 
shall  be  saved,  and  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
Truth,'  as  it  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.  Those 
who  believe  in  Him  who  said,  '  All  shall  know  Me, 
from  the  least  even  unto  the  greatest,'  look  with 
confidence  and  joy  beyond  the  present  evil  days 
of  ignorance  and  unbelief:  they  look  on  to  the 
time  of  the  restitution  of  all  things,  knowing  that 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL    27 

1  Life  is  real !     Life  is  earnest ! 
And  the  grave  is  not  its  goal ; 
Dust  thou  art,  to  dust  returnest, 
Was  not  spoken  of  the  soul. ' 

They  know  that  although  they  '  see  but  dimly 
through  the  mists  and  vapours,  amid  these  earthly 
damps,'  that  life  beyond  the  grave  is  a  great 
reality,  and  that  for  man,  made  in  the  image  of 
God, 

1  There  is  no  death,  what  seems  so  is  transition ; 
This  life  of  mortal  breath 
Is  but  a  suburb  of  the  life  elysian, 
Whose  portal  we  call  death.' 

They  know  that  the  time  will  come  when  God 
shall  wipe  away  all  tears ;  and  there  shall  be  '  no 
more  death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither 
shall  there  be  any  more  pain.'  They  look  for  the 
new  heaven  and  the  new  earth ;  and  for  the  holy 
city  that  will  have  no  need  of  the  sun,  neither  of 
the  moon,  to  shine  in  it,  for  the  glory  of  God  will 
lighten  it,  and  the  Lamb  will  be  the  light  thereof. 
And  so,  even  while  walking  through  the  '  Vale  of 
Tears,'  they  can  lift  up  their  heads  and  cry  :  '  O 
Death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  O  Grave,  where  is  thy 
victory  ?' 

The  man  who  realizes  that  he  is  an  immortal 
being,  immortal  because  he  is  the  son  of  Him  who 
is  without  beginning  or  end ;  and  that  this  im- 
mortal Father  has  willed  that  man  shall  work  with 
Him   in    carrying   on    His   great   designs    in    His 


28  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

universe,  and  has  environed  him  with  a  body  fitted 
for  the  work  appointed  for  him  to  do  in  this 
material  world,  that  man  knows  what  he  is ;  he 
grasps  his  position,  and  feels  its  responsibilities  ;  he 
recognises  the  self-evident  fact  that,  just  as  every 
child  should  be  trained  for  the  position  in  life  on 
earth  which  he  or  she  has  to  occupy — and  this  life 
is  the  school-life,  during  which  the  training  for 
higher  work  takes  place  —  so  upon  the  right  use 
of  his  own  free  will,  and  the  cultivation  of  the 
talents  bestowed  upon  him,  must  depend  a  man's 
fitness  for  a  more  exalted  or  a  lower  position 
in  the  next  stage  of  his  existence.  He  who 
aims  high,  and  who  allows  humility  to  safeguard 
his  aspirations,  brings  his  body  into  subjection, 
fights  against  sin,  wills  that  the  higher  part  of 
his  nature  shall  rule  the  lower,  and  in  so  doing 
brings  himself  into  conformity  to  the  perfect  will 
of  God  and  conquers ;  yet  not  in  his  own  strength 
alone,  for  the  will  to  work,  to  obey,  and,  if  need 
be,  to  suffer,  being  also  the  will  of  God,  is  the 
power  of  God  in  man  :  so  that  all  good  is  of 
God. 

By  making  use  of  '  every  good  and  perfect  gift 
that  comes  down  from  the  Father  of  Lights,  with 
whom  is  no  variableness,  neither  shadow  of  turn- 
ing,' man  conquers  and  is  crowned ;  by  the  disuse 
or  misuse  of  those  gifts  and  of  the  opportunities 
vouchsafed   for  their   employment,    he    loses   his 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL    29 

■ 
crown ;  if  not  entirely  and  for  ever,  still  there  must 

be  loss,  because  the  jewels  which  can  be  found 
and  polished  only  on  earth  in  the  strait  path  of 
duty  will  not  be  set  in  it.  The  wisest  and  best  of 
God's  children  love  to  think  that  the  school-life 
does  not  end  when  the  worn-out  instrument  which 
fitted  them  for  learning  and  working  in  a  material 
world  is  laid  aside,  and  the  spirit  is  set  free ;  for 
man  does  but  leave  the  lower  form  for  a  higher 
one,  if  in  this  natural  life  he  has  been  a  diligent 
student.  But  what  will  happen  if  the  lessons  on 
the  lower  form  have  not  been  learned  ?  Can  they 
ever  be  learned  ?  It  is  a  solemn  thought.  Ele- 
mentary truths  are  not  taught  in  the  higher  school,  I 
and  so  it  seems  that  there  must  be  loss.  A  lost 
moment  is  lost  for  ever  ;  a  lost  opportunity  can  ; 
never  be  won  back ;  the  past  cannot  be  recalled. 
The  margin  of  the  great  river  of  Death  is  reached 
at  last,  and  whatever  the  spirit  of  man  has  failed  to 
gather  up,  and  place  in  safe-keeping,  will  be  lacking 
on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  Where  there  is 
no  sickness  and  sorrow,  no  cold  and  hunger,  no 
nakedness  and  want,  there  can  be  no  opportunity 
for  learning  many  of  the  lessons  taught  by  the  life 
of  Christ  on  earth.  We  cannot  tell,  we  do  not 
know,  how  the  neglect  of  learning  lessons  here 
below  will  tell  upon  the  future.  Christ  endured 
the  ills  and  sorrows  of  life  on  earth  that  He  might 
be  like  us,  and  teach  us  how  we  may  be  like  Him. 


3o  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

Poor,  and  despised,  and  rejected,  He  went  about 
doing  good  ;  and  if  men  do  not  follow  in  His  foot- 
prints, they  cannot  be  like  their  Lord  in  that  respect. 
Dives  did  not  learn  that  lesson  in  this  world ;  and 
the  veil  which  by  infinite  wisdom  is  cast  over  one 
part  of  creation  is  raised  by  the  God-man,  to  show 
men  of  future  generations  the  result  in  the  next 
stage  of  man's  existence  of  not  obeying  the  com- 
mands of  the  great  Teacher,  and  not  learning  the 
lessons  which  the  Holy  Spirit  has  always  been  ready 
to  teach  man. 

Study  of  the  visible  universe,  and  of  the  mysteries 
of  the  kingdom  of  Nature,  even  apart  from  what  is 
revealed  to  us  of  the  unseen  world,  leads  the  mind 
almost  irresistibly  to  the  conclusion  that  there 
must  be  an  Author  and  Maker  of  all,  from  whom 
all  is  derived,  and  in  whom  is  infinite  wisdom  and 
power  to  create,  and  also  to  govern  and  frame  laws 
for  the  universe.  Those  laws  being  the  evolution 
and  expression  of  infinite  knowledge,  and  designed 
to  work  in  unbroken  continuity,  must  be  in  perfect 
harmony,  not  only  with  the  will  of  the  Lawgiver, 
but  with  each  other.  They  must  be  uniform  in 
their  working  as  applied  to  both  spirit  and  matter. 
In  man  we  see  the  blending  together  of  the 
material  and  the  immaterial ;  the  body  and  the 
spirit  that  animates,  directs,  and  controls  the  body. 
We  can  clearly  discern  how  any  principle  which 
did  not  work  harmoniously  with  both,  would  create 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL    31 

confusion  and  disruption.  This  the  sin  of  man 
has  done.  God  made  man  upright ;  an  enemy  has 
caused  him  to  fall  from  his  uprightness.  But 
God's  law  remains  unchanged  and  unchangeable ; 
and  as  surely  as  '  in  Adam  all  die,  so  in  Christ 
shall  all  be  made  alive,'  and  restored,  in  God's  own 
time,  according  to  His  eternal  purpose  in  Christ 
Jesus,  and  by  the  working  of  His  unchanging  law, 
to  the  image  of  God  in  which  man  was  originally 
made.  The  time  when  the  prophecy,  '  All  shall 
know  Me,  from  the  least  unto  the  greatest,'  shall  be 
fulfilled,  seems  to  be  very  far  away,  yet  it  may  be| 
nearer  than  we  imagine.  We  live  at  a  period  of 
the  world's  history  when  the  spread  of  knowledge, 
and  with  it  the  estimate  of  the  vastness  and  power 
of  man's  intellectual  possibilities,  apparently  induce 
men  to  overlook  the  fact,  that  as  they  never  reach  I 
a  point  beyond  which  there  is  not  a  higher,  there 
must  be  a  'starting  point'  quite  beyond  their 
present  grasp ;  there  must  be  the  Origin  and  l 
Moving  Power  of  all,  the  Author  and  Enlightener 
of  intellect ;  '  the  Great  First  Cause,  least  under- 
stood.' One  leader  of  modern  thought  has  said 
that  '  religion  is  evolved  by  a  process  of  naturalistic 
development,  the  first  term  of  which  was  a  primi- 
tive man's  shadow,  and  the  last,  God,  the  Maker  of 
heaven  and  earth,  and  Judge  of  all  mankind.' 
This,  however,  is  unsatisfactory,  even  from  the 
writer's  own  point  of  view ;  for  there  is  the  fact  of 


32  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

sin,  and  the  phenomena  of  conscience;  and,  face  to 
face  with  these,  the  theory  of  the  evolution  of 
religion  by  a  process  of  naturalistic  development 
breaks  down,  for  it  has  no  base,  no  starting-point. 
The  '  inner  man  '  has  at  once  to  confront  two  facts 
which  cannot  be  accounted  for,  save  by  the  acknow- 
ledgment of  a  revelation  from  some  higher  power. 
That  power  has  always  been  felt  by  man.  God 
has  never  left  man  without  a  witness,  though  He 
only  revealed  Himself  fully  in  the  person  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Pilate  asked  the  question,  'What 
is  Truth  ?'  The  answer  he  received  was  not 
in  words,  but  in  the  silent,  majestic  presence 
of  '  The  Truth '  in  its  fulness.  But  truth  is  a 
many-sided  thing,  and  man,  who  sees  only  in  part, 
grasps  one  phase  or  another,  and  then,  giving  the 
reins  to  his  imagination,  fashions  a  religion  of  his 
own  ;  in  this  way  it  comes  about  that  there  are 
many  'faiths'  in  the  world.  Or  a  man  closes  his 
eyes  to  all  but  the  creations  of  his  own  brain,  and 
puts  altogether  away  from  him  the  revealed  Truth. 
For  these  persons  the  Christian  can  only  feel  in- 
finite pity,  which — when  combined  with  admiration 
for  the  splendid  talents  that  so  often  accompany 
scepticism  and  infidelity,  and  for  the  unfailing  per- 
severance with  which  these  students  of  nature 
pursue  the  course  on  which  they  have  entered — 
deepens  as  the  thought  comes  home  to  the  believer 
that  '  the  things  which  are  seen  are  temporal ;  but 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL    33 

the  things  which  are  not  seen  are  eternal ' ;  for  he 
knows  that  when  the  Angel  of  Death  sets  him  free 
from  his  earthly  tabernacle,  the  light  of  an  unsetting 
sun  will  shine  upon  him,  and  he  will  '  know  even 
as  he  is  known  ' ;  whereas  the  unbeliever  in  God 
and  immortality  leaves  doubt,  and  the  shadows  of 
time,  for  the  deeper  shadows  of  Hades,  where  the 
knowledge  will  come  to  him,  as  it  came  to  Dives, 
that  he  had  missed  the  mark  of  his  high  calling, 
and  must  pay  the  penalty  for  despising  his  birth- 
right, and  making  no  use  of  opportunities  which, 
once  lost,  are  lost  for  ever. 

The  more  deeply  we  meditate  upon  the  effect 
which  loss  of  faith  in  the  reality  of  the  unseen  world 
has  upon  the  character  of  man,  the  more  important 
it  appears  to  be  to  use  every  effort  to  bring  back 
into  the  world  the  clear,  firm  faith  of  an  earlier  age, 
and  to  show  to  all  who  are  seeking  truth  that  visions 
of  the  unseen,  and  so-called  immaterial,  world  are 
not  myths  and  delusions,  but  realities,  more  lasting 
than  the  things  we  see  around  us,  for  they  perish  in 
the  using :  matter  is  resolved  into  its  primary  ele- 
ments ;  spirit  is  not  subject,  so  far  as  man  knows, 
to  laws  which  govern  the  material  world.  Hence 
it  is  that  the  witness  of  God's  truth  on  earth — the 
Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church — lives,  and  lives  to 
render  its  witness.  The  Church  lives,  because  the. 
Spirit  that  giveth  life  dwells  in  it,  and  abides  with  | 
it  for  ever.     Man  may  mar  the  outward  and  visible  ■ 

3 


34  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

form,  but  he  cannot  rob  the  Church  of  that  inward 
and  spiritual  grace  which  is  its  own,  by  reason  of 
union  with  the  Head,  and  which  gives  and  sustains 
that  inherent  power  which  renders  it  invulnerable. 
Man   may  seem   to  wound  and  crush  it,  but  he 
cannot  destroy  its  vitality.     With  the  world  against 
it,  and  the  powers  of  darkness  leagued  together  to 
destroy  the  Church,  it  is   safe,  and  stands  secure 
amid   the   storms    of    time,    a   monument   of    its 
founder's  power.    It  may  appear  to  be  rent  asunder 
by  the  heresies  and  sins  of  men,  but  being  one 
with  the  Lord,  and  one  in  '  the  faith  once  for  all 
delivered,'  which  is  summed  up  in  the  Creed  of 
the  Universal  Church,  and  sealed  by  the  last  (Ecu- 
menical Council,  it   is,  as  it  has  been,  and  as   it 
ever  will  be,  one  and  indivisible ;  its  members  sons 
and    daughters    of    the    great    universal    Father, 
brothers  and  sisters  of  the  '  Word  that  was  made 
flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us.' 

When  Christ  took  our  nature  upon  Him,  He 
united  the  material  and  the  immaterial,  the  natural 
and  the  spiritual,  even  as  God  in  the  beginning 
united  them,  when  He  made  man.  It  is  difficult 
to  understand  how  those  who  believe  Christ  to  be 
God  Incarnate  can  regard  the  Church  as  merely  a 
human  institution.  If  Christ  be  God  as  well  as 
man,  the  Divine  and  the  human  in  one  Person, 
His  Church  must  also  be  divine  and  human,  not 
mly  as  being  one  corporate  body,  but  divine  and 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL 


35 


human  in  each  individual  member  of  that  body. 
When  man  fails  to  realize  this  fact,  he  cannot  see 
the  Holy  Spirit  sanctifying  the  waters  of  baptism, 
or  the  hidden  God  of  the  Eucharist  on  the  altars 
of  His  Church,  because  these  things  are  spiritually 
discerned  by  that  higher  part  of  his  being  which, 
to  all  who  do  not  intelligently  believe  in  the  reality 
of  the  Unseen,  is  simply  something  that  they  cannot 
understand.  They  see  a  brother  die.  They  know 
that  the  body  lying  cold  and  stiff  and  motionless 
will  soon  crumble  to  dust ;  but  what  has  become 
of  all  that  made  the  man  ?  Gone  somewhere. 
"What  was  the  something  that  animated  the  clay 
image,  soon  to  be  laid  in  the  grave  ?  Alas  !  all 
behind  the  veil  is  shadowy  and  unreal  to  him  who 
has  not  an  intelligent  grasp  of  the  duality  of  his 
own  nature.  One  who  has  that  grasp,  when  he 
sees  the  head  bowed  or  the  knee  bent  at  the  name 
of  Jesus,  sees  only  an  evidence  of  spirit  moving 
matter— the  unseen  controlling  the  seen.  When 
he  sees  the  sign  of  the  Cross  made,  he  regards  it 
as  an  outward  sign  of  the  willingness  of  the  '  inner 
man  '  to  be  as  his  Master,  and  to  take  up  his  cross 
and  follow  that  Master.  When  he  sees  a  brother 
or  sister  kneel  before  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  he 
knows  that  in  body  and  in  spirit  worship  is  offered 
to  the  Creator  and  Saviour  of  both.  With  the 
heart  man  believeth ;  with  the  mouth  he  confesses 
his  belief.     When  the  heart  is  merry,  a  smile  plays 


36  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

about  the  lips  and  gladness  is  heard  in  the  voice  ; 
when  it  is  sad,  tears  glisten  in  the  eye  and  a  sigh 
or  a  moan  is  breathed  forth.  One  man  who  has 
much  knowledge  of  the  material  universe  deems  it 
wisdom  to  ignore  one  part  of  his  being ;  another, 
who  knows  himself,  knows  also  that  what  is  behind 
the  material  veil  is  of  more  value  than  the  mortal 
environment,  which  does  but  enable  him  to  work 
here  on  earth,  and  falls  from  him  when  the  earth- 
work is  done. 

The  hazy  faith,  if  faith  it  may  be  called,  which 
prevents  so  many  professing  Christians  from  seeing 
anything  clearly  that  is  beyond  human  sight,  causes 
them  to  regard  themselves  as  mere  denizens  of 
earth,  and  the  Church  as  a  valuable  teacher  of 
ethics.  She  is  to  them  a  good  and  useful  institu- 
tion, and  she  is  nothing  more.  They  see  that  part 
of  her  which  is  on  this  side  of  the  veil,  and  dream 
not  of  what  lies  on  the  other  side.  They  see  the 
base  of  the  '  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth,'  and 
a  certain  portion  of  her  shaft,  but  her  capital  is 
beyond  their  ken.  The  dense  atmosphere  of  this 
world  hides  the  light  and  life  of  the  Church  from 
all  who  only  regard  the  surface  of  things,  but  those 
who  look  below  the  surface  see  the  Church  on 
earth  battling  with  the  powers  of  evil — sorrowful, 
yet  always  rejoicing ;  persecuted,  afflicted,  tor- 
mented, yet  overcoming  evil  with  good  ;  returning 
blessing  for  cursing;  beaten  back  from   point  to 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL    37 

point,  but  never  yielding ;  her  flagstaff  sometimes 
broken,  but  her  colours  never  taken.  Her  members 
fight  against  the  god  of  this  world  and  his  hosts, 
and  the  world  deems  them  powerless,  because  it 
does  not  see  the  One,  far  above  all  rule,  and  au- 
thority, and  power,  and  dominion,  who  is  their- 
strength  and  their  leader,  to  whom  they  are  in- 
dissolubly  united.  The  world  thinks  that  the 
Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church,  in  her  divine 
aspect,  is  a  myth,  and  that  the  faith  of  the  Church  ' 
is  a  delusion;  but  her  members  know  that  their 
hopes  are  fixed  upon  a  building  not  made  with 
hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens,  and  based  upon 
the  'Rock  of  Ages.'  They  know  that  the  centre 
of  their  faith  is  the  Alpha  and  Omega  of  the 
Church — the,  at  present,  invisible  Head  of  the 
mystical  body,  which  He  has  purchased  for  Him- 
self, and  which  He  and  His  co-workers  are  direct- 
ing and  controlling,  just  as  the  spirit  of  man  directs 
and  controls  his  body.  This  fact,  taught  by  revela- 
tion, received  by  faith,  and  confirmed  by  reason,  is 
enough  for  those  who  can  distinguish  'truth  and 
error.'  If,  in  a  general  sense,  Pilate's  question, 
'  What  is  truth?'  is  asked,  the  answer  is  plain.  It 
is  what  science  is,  accurate  knowledge,  the  opposite 
of  falsehood,  which  is  the  denial  of  truth.  It 
follows,  therefore,  that  there  can  be  no  falsehood 
where  there  is  no  truth — there  can  be  no  denial  of 
what  is  not. 


38  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

It  would  not  be  easy  for  an  unbeliever  in  the 
unseen  world,  and  its  spiritual  inhabitants,  to  give  a 
satisfactory  reason  for  all  the  rhetoric  that  in  these 
days  is  employed  to  stamp  out  belief  in  the  super- 
natural, or  to  explain  why  men  spend  time  and 
employ  their  talents  to  destroy  a  nonentity.  They 
must  admit  the  universality  of  the  belief  in  super- 
natural power  and  manifestations,  for  it  has  always 
existed,  in  every  age  and  in  every  clime,  as  it  exists 
to-day  among  all  nations,  and  it  is  as  much  a  part  of 
the  creed  of  learned  men  of  the  nineteenth  century  as 
it  was  of  men  who  saw  the  dead  raised  by  Him  who 
'brought  life  and  immortality  to  light,'  and  who  told 
them  of  their  home  above,  and  the  many  mansions 
in  His  Father's  house.  The  thought  of  immortality 
elevates  the  mind,  and  he  who  meditates  on  the 
meaning  of  the  word  '  eternity,'  is  not  likely  to  con- 
fine all  his  aspirations  to  time,  or  concentrate  his 
thoughts  upon  earth.  He  who  is  content  to  be  '  a 
giant '  on  earth  must  be  also  content  to  see  nothing 
but  the  sphere  around  him.  He  cannot,  from  his 
own  point  of  view,  raise  himself  or  others  ;  and  we 
cannot  but  believe  that  there  are  moments  when  our 
greatest  materialistic  teachers  would  give  all  their 
boasted  knowledge  for  an  unwavering  faith  in  im- 
mortality, when  in  their  inmost  being  they  feel  what 
the  late  Poet  Laureate  has  embodied  in  the  pathetic 
words, 

'  Oh  for  the  touch  of  a  vanished  hand, 
The  sound  of  a  voice  that  is  still  !' 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL    39 

They  would  welcome  the  faintest  gleam  of  light  from 
the  world  they  ignore,  if  it  showed  them  that  the 
loved  and  lost  to  mortal  sight  were  only  behind  a 
veil,  safe  for  ever  in  the  hand  of  a  God  of  love. 

The  position  taken  by  men  who  reject  Revela- 
tion, and  with  it  dogmatic  theology,  appears  to  the 
ordinary  mind  as  untenable  as  it  is  illogical ;  for 
while  treating  any  allusion  to  the  supernatural 
with  supercilious  contempt,  they  have  themselves 
gathered  from  the  region  of  metaphysics  all  the 
power  that  enables  them  to  unlock  the  mysteries 
of  the  kingdom  of  Nature,  to  understand  the  work- 
ing of  the  laws  which  govern  it,  and  to  adapt  its 
treasures  to  the  use  of  man.  There  is  also  a  very 
important,  because  practical,  bearing  which  the 
non  recognition  of  the  supernatural  has  upon  the 
lives  of  men.  It  is  impossible  for  any  deep 
thinker,  who  is  an  observer  of  the  present  condi- 
tions of  social  and  political  life  in  these  closing 
years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  not  to  feel  that  a 
crisis  in  the  history  of  the  world  is  approaching — a 
crisis  evolved  out  of  the  actions  of  men,  those 
actions  being  but  the  embodiment  of  all  the  brain- 
power which  is  exercised  so  freely  for  good  or  evil 
in  this  age  of  reason.  It  is  also  impossible  to 
avoid  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  the  ground  on 
which  previous  generations  have  stood,  or  thought 
they  stood,  secure,  is  crumbling  away  beneath  their 
feet,  and  that  they  must  slide  down  the  steep  grade 


4o  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

with  the  multitude,  or  they  must  climb  to  higher 
ground,  and  find  some  rock  on  which  they  can 
feel  safe,  and  live  for  nobler  ends  than  the  great 
majority  dream  of. 

There  is  a  general  longing  for  a  better  and 
higher  life  than  has  been  realized  by  man  on  earth 
since  the  fall,  and  this  is  evidenced  by  the  work  of 
those  whose  lives  prove  that  they  deem  no  sacrifice 
too  great,  if,  by  immolating  self,  they  can  raise 
their  fellow-men  from  the  depths  of  sin  and  suffer- 
ing into  which  they  have  fallen.  But  the  lost 
sheep  are  many  and  the  shepherds  are  few — so  few 
that  if  we  had  not  the  great  historical  drama  of 
Christianity  shining  out  of  the  darkness,  and  the 
Author  and  Chief  Actor  in  the  drama  standing 
alone  in  a  world  arrayed  against  Him,  we  should 
marvel  at  the  work  which  they  accomplish.  The 
secret  of  their  success  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact 
that,  having  followed  in  the  steps  of  the  ideal  man, 
Christ  Jesus,  of  Him  in  whom  His  bitterest  enemies 
could  '  find  no  fault/  their  work  is  based  upon  a 
sure  foundation,  that  foundation  being  absolute 
truth.  This  unquestionable  fact  accounts  for  the 
triumphant  march  of  Christianity.  Its  Founder 
died  the  death  of  a  malefactor.  He  was  rejected, 
reviled,  crucified,  and  yet  came  off  more  than 
conqueror.  So  it  is  with  His  servants,  and  the 
adversary  has  no  more  power  to  overthrow  them 
and  their  work   than  he   had  when   he   tempted 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL    41 

Christ,  and  was  foiled  by  Him.  If  we  take  a 
practical  view  of  the  principles  upon  which  the 
social  and  political  life  of  nations  and  individuals 
rests,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  foundation  which 
supports  Christianity  is  not  the  base  on  which  the 
world's  principles  are  built.  Therefore  the  actions  in 
which  the  world's  principles  are  embodied  are  always 
shifting,  and  the  history  of  the  world,  as  illustrated 
by  the  rise  and  fall  of  nations,  is  not  a  record  of 
steady  growth,  but  of  alternating  progression  and 
retrogression.  Everywhere  men  are  clamouring 
for  change.  There  is  no  fixity  of  purpose,  no  co- 
hesion of  the  conflicting  elements  which  every  year 
increase  the  gigantic  warlike  armaments  that  are 
necessary,  it  is  said,  to  preserve  peace  among  nations. 
That  statement  is  in  itself  a  proof  that  'there  is 
something  rotten  in  the  state  of  Denmark.'  Truth 
has  a  coherent  power  in  itself ;  it  is  steadfast  and 
immovable,  and  all  that  is  based  upon  it  makes  for 
peace  and  not  for  war.  It  creates  order,  not  con- 
fusion, and  the  light  that  radiates  from  it  dispels 
the  mists  and  vapours  which  in  every  age  have 
gathered  round  the  false. 

If  proof  were  needed  of  the  imminent  danger  of 
elevating  a  false  standard,  we  have  but  to  glance  at 
the  history  of  democracy  on  the  one  hand,  and  of 
autocracy  on  the  other ;  for  both  are  subversive  of 
the  golden  rule,  '  Do  unto  others  as  you  would 
have  others  do  unto  you.'    The  two  extremes  meet, 


42  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

and  the  autocrat  and  the  democrat  are  scarcely 
divided  in  principle  by  a  hair's  breadth.  The  social 
democrat  would  lower  everything  to  his  own  level, 
and  the  autocrat  would  do  the  same.  Each  would 
be  guided  by  the  same  principle — that  of  subju- 
gating all  to  his  own  will.  The  problem  to  be 
solved  is  not  an  easy  one,  unless  in  answering  the 
question,  'What  is  to  be  done  when  all  men  are 
agitating  for  change '  ?  we  go  back  to  first  prin- 
ciples, and  start  afresh  on  the  basis  of  truth.  In 
order  to  make  this  possible  man  must  be  taught  to 
know  himself,  and  to  realize  that  he  is  something 
more  than  that  which  he  seems  to  be;  and  that  there 
is  a  purpose  for  his  being,  and  a  work  for  him  to  do, 
for  which  this  life  is  preparing  him.  The  moment 
a  human  being  faces  the  questions,  '  Whence  came 
I?'  'What  am  I?'  'Where  do  I  go?'  he  is  compelled 
against  his  will  to  admit  that,  apart  from  Revelation, 
his  only  answer  to  the  first  and  last  questions  must 
be,  '  I  do  not  know.'  To  the  middle  question  the 
only  answer  he  could  give  would  be,  '  I  am  a  man.' 
Then  arises  the  question,  '  What  is  man  ?'  The 
Holy  Scriptures,  which  agnostics  regard  as  fables, 
tell  us  what  man  is,  whence  he  came,  why  he  is 
placed  in  this  great  earthly  school,  and  whither  he 
will  go  when  his  lessons  are  learned.  Again,  if  the 
question,  '  What  is  man  ?'  is  asked  of  history,  the 
answer  is  given  by  pointing  to  Christ ;  to  His 
words,  His  works,  His  life  from  the  cradle  to  the 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL 


43 


cross.  He  is  the  perfect  Man,  the  express  image 
of  the  Father,  and  because  He  is  Man,  He  claims 
us  for  His  own,  and,  fallen  as  we  are,  He  calls  us 
His  '  brother,'  and  '  sister,'  and  '  mother.'  Nay, 
more,  his  '  bride,'  for  whom  He  laid  down  His  life. 
Ask  of  one  who  never  heard  of  Christ,  or  who, 
having  heard,  has  rejected  Him,  'What  is  man?' 
and  he  can  but  point  to  himself,  to  his  wonderfully- 
made  body,  which  is  soon  to  be  resolved  into  the 
elements  out  of  which  it  was  framed.  There  is  no 
past,  no  future.  He  is  what  he  is  for  a  moment  of 
time.  He  may  be  a  giant  in  intellect,  a  model  of 
morality,  a  lover  of  all  that  is  great  and  good ;  he 
may  be  a  favourite  of  fortune,  a  king  among  men, 
or  he  may  be  the  opposite  of  all  this,  born  into  the 
world  only  to  suffer.  What  in  either  case  does 
it  matter  when  the  decree  goes  forth,  'Ashes  to 
ashes,  dust  to  dust '  ?  If  no  part  of  man  is  immortal, 
it  is  better  for  him  never  to  have  been. 

If  man  would  learn  to  know  himself  first,  and 
that  part  of  the  universe  which  is  within  reach  of 
his  limited  faculties  next,  there  would  be  less 
agnosticism  and  more  wisdom,  less  pride  and  more 
humility ;  for  knowledge  of  self,  while  showing  man- 
his  transcendent  greatness  and  his  limitless  capa- 
bilities, as  made  in  the  image  of  God,  also  teaches 
him  his  infinite  littleness  in  his  fallen  state,  and 
shows  him  what  the  higher  part  of  his  nature,  the  ] 
'inner  man,'  has  to  do  during  the  school  life  of  | 


44  THE  SUPERNATURAL 


earth,  before  he  can  recover  all  that  for  him  Adam 
lost.  To  do  this  he  must  keep  up  a  continual  war- 
fare against  sin,  for  though  Christ,  by  the  sacrifice 
of  Himself  as  man,  has  redeemed  man,  and  opened 
for  him  a  new  and  living  way  to  heaven,  man  has 
'  now,  as  in  old  time,  to  choose  the  good  and  refuse 
the  evil ;  in  short,  he  must  work  out  his  own  salva- 
tion in  God's  appointed  way.  It  is  man's  high 
privilege  to  be  a  worker  with  God,  not  a  machine 
worked  by  God  ;  otherwise  man  would  be  little 
more  than  a  pen  in  the  hand  of  the  writer,  or  the 
clod  beneath  his  feet.  The  great  need  of  the 
present  day  is  a  realization  of  the  fact,  that  what  is 
called  '  the  supernatural '  is  as  real  as  the  natural, 
and  that  the  visible  universe  is  but  the  embodi- 
ment of  God's  mind,  just  as  music  and  painting 
are  the  embodiments  of  man's  thoughts.  Words 
are,  after  all,  but  clumsy  things,  but  we  have  to 
use  them.  They  serve  our  purpose  well  as  long  as 
they  treat  of  the  visible  and  material  world,  but  the 
moment  we  touch  the  great  unseen  world,  words 
fail  us.  We  only  know  what  electricity  is  by  its 
effects  ;  we  make  use  of  what  we  cannot  see,  we 
grasp  what  we  cannot  feel.  We  live  and  move  and 
have  our  being  by  a  power  of  which  we  know 
nothing — a  power  or  principle  which  we  can  con- 
trol and  subjugate  to  our  will,  and  so  far  it  is  our 
own.  We  know  that  it  is;  but  the  cause  is  known 
to  God  only.     It  is  an  extension  of  His  own  life- 


THE  REALITY  OF  THE  SUPERNATURAL    45 

giving  and  creative  power,  and  the  fact  that  it  is  of 
Him,  and  from  Him,  making  us  one  with  Him, 
constitutes  our  greatness.  The  knowledge  of  this 
fact  must  tend  to  make  man  feel  that  he  is  a  re- 
sponsible being,  created  not  for  time  only  but  also 
for  eternity,  and  until  men  and  women  are  taught 
to  know  themselves,  and  to  realize  their  position 
in  creation,  individuals  and  nations  will  live  and  act 
for  this  world  only.  The  ruler  of  the  powers  of 
darkness  knows  well  that  he  can  best  succeed  in 
deceiving  man  by  leading  him  to  ignore  and  to 
deny  the  unseen,  and  to  believe  only  in  what  he 
can  see  and  understand ;  thus  losing  sight  of  who 
and  what  he  really  is.  As  sons  of  God  men  belong 
to  two  worlds,  the  material  and  the  so-called,  by  way 
of  distinction,  immaterial.  While  incarnate  they 
have  to  do  with  the  material  world  in  which  for  a 
few  years  they  live  and  work ;  and  if  they  realized, 
as  God  would  have  them  do,  that  the  '  inner  man  ' 
controls  and  regulates  the  outer  man,  and  lives  on  ] 
when  the  other  dies,  they  would  soon  cease  to  scoff 
at  the  supernatural  as  but  a  phantasy  of  the  diseased 
brain,  and  at  the  belief  in  it  as  only  a  deteriorating 
superstition. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    GREAT    SACRAMENT — GOD    IN    NATURE. 

A  great  sacrament  is  a  great  mystery.  When 
God  willed  the  union  of  spirit  and  matter,  He  em- 
bodied His  creative  power  in  countless  organisms 
during  the  successive  ages  which  are  referred  to  in 
the  first  book  of  Holy  Scripture.  Through  those  ages 
each  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Nature  was  developed 
from  the  minutest  particle  of  which  matter  is 
composed  until  the  work  of  creation  was  finished, 
and  was  declared  by  the  Creator  to  be  ■  very 
good.'  Order  had  taken  the  place  of  chaos. 
Earth,  and  sea,  and  sky  were  fashioned  after  the 
mind  of  the  great  Artificer.  Suns  and  stars  were 
set  in  the  firmament.  The  fowls  of  the  air,  the 
fishes  of  the  sea,  and  the  beasts  of  the  earth  were 
made ;  and  then  the  Council  of  the  Trinity  decreed 
that  man  should  be  created  in  the  image  of  God, 
and  that  he  should  be  lord  of  creation,  and  have 
dominion  over  all  the  earth.     When  the  heavens 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  47 

and  the  earth  were  finished,  and  all  the  host  of 
them,  and  God  saw  that  all  was  good,  and  that  His 
work  of  creation  was  ended,  He  rested  from  all 
His  work  which  He  had  made.  It  was  all  perfect 
then,  and  all  His  work  is  perfect  now ;  for  God  is 
as  unchangeable  in  His  works  and  purpose  as  He 
is  unchangeable  in  Himself.  Every  page  of  the 
Book  of  Nature  tells  only  of  perfection — perfection 
in  the  smallest  as  in  the  greatest  things.  Man 
speaks  of  things  as  being  '  great '  and  '  small,'  but 
when  he  finds  in  the  minutest  atom  which  the 
most  powerful  microscope  can  show  him  a  perfect 
adaptation  to  place  and  use,  and  sees  in  the 
smallest  organism  as  much  design  as  in  what  man 
calls  the  '  noblest  works  in  creation,'  he  can  but 
feel  that  there  is  nothing  really  great  or  small  in 
God's  sight.  God  made  and  sustains  everything. 
The  smallest  crystal  in  the  granite  rock,  the  mote 
seen  in  the  sunbeam,  are  as  truly  maintained  in 
their  position  by  Almighty  Power  as  are  the  stars  in 
their  orbits  ;  and  man  is  taught  that,  as  concerning 
his  body,  the  hairs  of  his  head  are  numbered,  and 
as  concerning  the  divine  part  of  his  nature,  that  he 
can  be  enlightened  and  guided  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 
'  Oh,  the  depth  of  the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom 
and  knowledge  of  God !  How  unsearchable  are 
His  judgments,  and  His  ways  past  finding  out.' 
1  Lord,  what  is  man  that  Thou  art  mindful  of  him, 
and  the  son  of  man  that  Thou  visitest  him  ?     For 


48  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

Thou  hast  made  him  a  little  lower  than  the  angels, 
and  hast  crowned  him  with  glory  and  honour. 
Thou  madest  him  to  have  dominion  over  the 
works  of  Thy  hands ;  Thou  hast  put  all  things 
under  his  feet.' 

God  had  sown  good  seed  in  the  field  of  the 
universe,  but  an  enemy  sowed  tares  among  the 
wheat.  Evil  entered  the  garden,  and  the  trail  of 
the  serpent  blighted  the  fairest  flowers.  From  the 
moment  that  God  breathed  life  into  the  human 
frame  which  He  had  made,  man  became  a  living 
soul ;  and  then  evil,  the  opposite  of  good,  strove, 
and  has  striven  through  the  ages,  to  prevent  the 
union  of  spirit  and  matter,  and  to  break  off  the 
relations  between  man  and  his  Maker.  Evil  has 
so  far  succeeded  as  to  make  the  history  of  man  on 
earth  appear  to  be  a  series  of  damaged  links,  though 
\  the  golden  chain  of  Divine  love  still  binds  the 
creature  to  his  Creator. 

When  contemplating  the  material  universe  as  the 
outward  and  visible  sign  of  the  Creator,  man 
begins  to  know  himself.  He  may  learn,  in  the 
presence  of  the  '  Great  Sacrament,'  what  he  is,  as 
the  crown  of  creation  and  the  son  of  God.  His 
mortal  body  is  a  temple  in  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
may  dwell.  It  is  the  Spirit  of  God  which  enables 
man  to  rejoice  in  the  glories  around  him  in  nature, 
and  causes  a  thrill  of  pleasure  to  pass  through  his 
being   when    some    harmonious    chord    is    heard. 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  49 

Man  may  realize  that  though  disease  and  death 
destroy  the  material  part  of  his  nature,  they  cannot 
touch  the  divine  part.  Nevertheless  the  spirit  of, 
man  is  often  cast  down,  for  while  feeling  that  he 
has  within  him  infinite  capacities  for  acquiring 
knowledge,  and  attaining  noble  things,  the  limita- 
tions of  time,  and  the  hindering  circumstances  of 
his  natural  life,  stay  his  onward  march,  fetter  his 
hands,  and  put  a  drag  on  his  loftiest  imaginations 
and  aspirations.  As  St.  Paul  says,  he  does  but 
'  see  through  a  glass  darkly.'  And  the  man  who 
knows  himself  feels  that  it  is  best  for  him,  so  long 
as  he  has  to  live  in  a  mortal  tabernacle,  and  fight 
against  the  powers  of  darkness,  not  to  have  the 
perfection  of  the  unseen  universe  laid  quite  bare 
before  him.  If  it  were,  how  could  he  look  upon 
the  world  which  sin  has  defiled,  and  upon  the  lives 
of  the  majority  of  men  and  women,  without  loath- 
ing and  despair  taking  the  place  of  faith  and  good 
works  ? 

As  human,  man  falters,  and  often  falls ;  he  slips, 
his  heart  fails,  clouds  obscure  his  mind,  the  atmo- 
sphere around  him  is  hazy,  and  he  can  scarcely  see 
his  way.  Then  it  is  that  the  divine  part  of  his 
nature  asserts  its  supremacy,  and  comes  to  his  aid ; 
and  with  the  prayer  on  his  lips : 

1  Lead,  kindly  Light,  amid  the  encircling  gloom, 
Lead  Thou  me  on,' 

he  perseveres  ;  he  knows  that  he  is  'far  from  home,' 

4 


50  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

but  he  knows  also  that  the  narrow  way  of  the 
Cross  leads  straight  to  the  Golden  City  ;  and  he 
prays  the  more  earnestly  : 

*  Lead  Thou  me  on. 
Keep  Thou  my  feet ;  I  do  not  ask  to  see 
The  distant  scene  ;  one  step  enough  for  me.' 

It  may  be  that  the  '  one  step '  will  lead  the  mind 
from  Nature  up  to  Nature's  God ;  or  it  may  enable 
man  to  fix  the  eye  of  the  soul  upon  God  as  He 
was  in  the  beginning,  when  the  Son  was  '  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Father,'  before  the  '  Spirit  moved 
upon  the  face  of  the  waters,'  and  the  decree  went 
forth,  '  Let  there  be  light.'  The  eye  involuntarily 
closes  for  a  moment,  and  the  whole  man  is  bowed 
down  with  a  sense  of  reverential  awe,  as  he  realizes 
that  a  created  being  can  be  drawn  so  near  to  the 
Eternal  as  to  be  able  to  concentrate  thought  upon 
Him,  '  whom  no  man  hath  seen  or  can  see,'  save 
only  the  God-man,  who  has  declared  Him  and 
manifested  Him  unto  the  world.  God  has  said : 
'  I  dwell  in  the  high  and  holy  place,  with  him  also 
that  is  of  a  contrite  and  humble  spirit,  to  revive 
the  spirit  of  the  humble,  and  to  revive  the  heart  of 
the  contrite  ones.'  When,  in  the  'fulness  of  time,' 
the  Hypostatic  Union  of  God  and  man  was  con- 
summated, and  the  '  Light  that  lighteth  every  man 
coming  into  the  world '  was  manifested  in  the 
person  of  Jesus  Christ,  great  boldness  of  access 
was  given  to  man  ;  now  he  soars  like  the  eagle, 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  51 

and  from  resting  on  the  Saviour's  breast,  he  ascends 
in  spirit;  stands  before  the  throne  of  the  Alpha 
and  Omega,  and  hears  again  the  old  and  familiar 
words,  '  Fear  not.'  Now,  as  in  earlier  days,  the 
man  whose  soul  is  divinely  illuminated  penetrates 
to  the  presence-chamber  of  God,  and  there  learns 
to  know  Him  better,  and  to  love  Him  more. 

Great  indeed  is  the  '  Mystery  of  Godliness.' 
The  more  lowly-minded  a  man  becomes,  the  more 
is  he  exalted ;  and  as  he  repeats  the  words  of 
saints  and  prophets,  'Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  is  the 
Lord  of  Hosts  :  the  whole  earth  is  full  of  His 
glory  :  Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  Lord  God  Almighty, 
which  was,  and  is,  and  is  to  come,'  he  is  not 
utterly  cast  down  •  even  in  the  depths  of  his 
humility  he  can  contemplate  the  ever-blessed 
Trinity ;  for  the  Third  Person  of  the  Triune  God 
has  taught  him  that  the  high  and  lofty  One  is  not 
far  from  him,  and  that  the  Second  Person  of  the 
Trinity  has  effected  an  indissoluble  union  between  1 
him  and  his  Maker.  In  that  presence-chamber  he 
learns  that  God  is  Truth,  steadfast  and  unchange- 
able ;  and  He  has  said  that  man  shall  one  day 
'  know  even  as  he  is  known.'  In  that  day  each 
immortal  soul  will  see  that  from  the  grand  centre, 
glowing  with  the  fire  of  love,  the  rays  of  truth 
fell  on  men's  minds  and  hearts  as  the  Ruler  of  all 
judged  best,  fitting  them  to  do  their  appointed 
work  in  the  world.     Just  as  certainly  as  a  ray  of 


52  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

light  is  decomposed  into  seven  primary  colours, 
when  it  is  refracted  through  a  prism,  so  each  phase 
of  truth,  partially  apprehended  though  it  may  be 
by  man,  will,  under  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
become  re-moulded  and  fitted  in  with  other  truths, 
so  that  the  whole  truth  will  shine  forth  and  appear, 
even  in  this  life,  to  him  who  seeks  for  truth  with  a 
single  eye  and  pure  heart,  one  perfect  whole,  one 
light-giving  centre.  That  centre  is  the  Holy 
Trinity,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
one  God  in  Trinity,  and  Trinity  in  Unity ;  '  the 
Father  made  of  none,  neither  created  nor  be- 
gotten :  the  Son  of  the  Father  alone,  not  made, 
nor  created,  but  begotten  :  the  Holy  Ghost  of  the 
Father  and  of  the  Son,  neither  made,  nor  created, 
nor  begotten,  but  proceeding  :  and  in  this  Trinity 
none  is  afore,  or  after  another :  none  is  greater  or 
less  than  another;  but  the  whole  three  persons 
are  co- eternal  together,  and  co-equal.'  There 
is  none  like  unto  this  Lord  God  Almighty,  who 
'clothes  Himself  with  light  as  with  a  garment,'  and 
1  dwelleth  in  the  light  which  no  man  can  approach 
unto.' 

Creation  declares  God  to  be  omnipotent,  and 
lest  the  people  whom  He  had  chosen  out  of  the 
nations  to  be  witnesses  for  Him,  and  to  whom  He 
had  said,  '  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God, 
and  Him  only  shalt  thou  serve,'  should  forget  the 
Creator  when  contemplating  creation,  and  rob  God 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  53 

of  His  glory  when  regarding  the  glories  around 
them,  He  warned  them  to  'take  heed,'  lest,  when 
they  lifted  up  their  eyes  to  heaven,  and  gazed  upon 
the  sun  and  moon  and  stars,  and  on  all  the  hosts  of 
heaven,  they  should  be  driven  to  worship  them. 
'I  will  not  give  my  glory  to  another,'  saith  the 
Lord.  'God  is  a  Spirit.'  Of  that  Spirit  He  has 
imparted  unto  man,  and  '  in  spirit  and  in  truth ' 
man  must  worship  Him.  It  is  derogatory  to  man 
to  worship  any  created  thing,  for  God  has  said  to 
him,  c  Look  unto  Me,  and  be  ye  saved,  all  the  ends 
of  the  earth ;  for  I  am  God,  and  there  is  none  else. 
I  have  sworn  by  Myself;  the  word  is  gone  out  of  My 
mouth  in  righteousness,  and  shall  not  return,  that 
unto  Me  every  knee  shall  bow,  every  tongue  shall 
swear.'  '  For  thy  Maker  is  thine  husband ;  the 
Lord  of  hosts  is  His  name  ;  and  thy  Redeemer  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel ;  the  God  of  the  whole  earth 
shall  He  be  called.'  Before  this  great  and  mighty 
God,  the  man  who  realizes  his  birthright  privileges, 
and  his  wonderful  tripartite  nature,  will  not,  if  true 
to  himself,  be  content  with  less  than  worshipping 
God  with  his  whole  being.  He  cannot  cast  a  crown  at 
the  feet  of  the  King  of  Kings,  as  St.  John  saw  the 
elders  in  heaven  cast  their  crowns  before  the  throne, 
when  they  worshipped  Him  who  sat  on  the  throne, 
for  man  is  not  yet  crowned ;  but  when  he  would 
lift  up  his  heart  in  prayer,  he  can,  and  he  ought, 
to  fall  down  upon  his  knees  before  the  mercy-seat. 


54  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

He  cannot  with  his  bodily  eye  see  the  Son  of  Man 
in  glory,  as  St.  John  did,  when  he  fell  at  His  feet 
as  one  dead  ;  but  he  can  and  ought  to  prostrate  his 
whole  being  before  the  hidden  God  of  the  Eucharist ; 
for  there,  on  the  altars  of  His  Church  on  earth,  the 
Son  of  Mary  is,  under  the  forms  of  bread  and  wine. 
1  This  is  the  bread  which  cometh  down  from 
heaven,  that  a  man  may  eat  thereof,  and  not  die. 
I  am  the  living  bread  which  came  down  from 
heaven  :  if  any  man  eat  of  this  bread,  he  shall  live 
for  ever  :  and  the  bread  that  I  will  give  is  My  flesh, 
which  I  will  give  for  the  life  of  the  world.  Verily, 
verily,  I  say  unto  you,  Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the 
Son  of  Man,  and  drink  His  blood,  ye  have  no  life 
in  you.  Whoso  eateth  My  flesh,  and  drinketh  My 
blood,  hath  eternal  life  ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at 
the  last  day.  For  My  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  My 
blood  is  drink  indeed.  He  that  eateth  My  flesh, 
and  drinketh  My  blood,  dwelleth  in  Me  and  I  in 
him.  As  the  living  Father  hath  sent  Me,  and  I 
live  by  the  Father ;  so  he  that  eateth  Me,  even  he 
shall  live  by  Me.'  ■  Hath  He  said,  and  shall  He 
not  do  it  ?'  '  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  world,'  was  the  Saviour's  promise  to 
the  early  Church,  and  all  true  and  faithful  mem- 
bers of  His  body  believe  that  though  heaven  and 
earth  may  pass  away,  His  words  shall  not  pass 
away. 

Few  thinkers  will  deny  that  there  is  something 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  55 

within  them  which  is  distinct  from  the  evidences  in 
Nature  that  are  apprehended  by  the  senses.  This 
inward  witness  tells  that  God  is,  and,  indeed,  must 
be.  What  is  this  inward  witness?  It  is  no  part  of  our 
material  being.  The  natural  body  is  but  its  environ- 
ment. It  is  God's  Spirit  within  man,  testifying  to 
the  union  of  God  and  Man,  and  of  the  reality  of 
the  unseen.  The  recognition  of  this  fact  naturally 
leads  to  the  exercise  of  the  human  intellect  in  the 
study  of  Nature;  and  in  it,  all  who  allow  the  higher 
part  of  their  nature  to  guide  them,  find  not  only 
proofs  of  the  existence  of  God,  but  revelations  of 
His  omnipotence,  omniscience,  and  omnipresence. 
Science  is  but  the  unfolder  and  expounder  of  the 
attributes  of  Jehovah.  When  science  has  measured 
the  distance  which  separates  suns  and  planets  ; 
analyzed  a  flower  or  a  crystal ;  or  explained  the 
nature  of  the  laws  which  govern  our  world,  what 
has  science  done  save  show  man  more  clearly  the 
Creator  and  Lawgiver  who  made  all  and  orders  all? 
The  thing  that  is  made  proclaims  its  Maker ;  the 
laws  of  Nature  declare  a  Lawgiver ;  but  they  can- 
not take  His  place.  God  within  ourselves  is  our 
supreme  Teacher.  His  still,  small  voice,  which  we 
call  conscience — that  mysterious  power  within  us 
which  directs  and  controls  our  apprehension  of 
what  is  morally  right — reveals  the  Creator  as  dis- 
tinct from  creation.  It  is  this  inward  light,  illumi- 
nating  the   ethical   part   of   man's   nature,    which 


56  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

enables  him  to  realize  the  darkness  of  evil,  the 
power  of  that  free-will  which  he  possesses,  and  his 
consequent  moral  responsibility.  Made  in  the 
image  of  God,  he  can  discern  between  good  and 
evil,  and  he  knows  that  he  has  the  power  to  choose 
between  good  and  evil.  Just  as  light  causes  us  to 
apprehend  what  darkness  is,  so  goodness  demon- 
strates what  evil  is.  Man,  enlightened  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  can  know  God  apart  from  the  teachings  of 
material  nature.  He  who  chooses  the  good  part, 
shrinks  from  evil,  and  yearns  after  that  which  is 
good.  His  own  spirit  enables  him  to  form  true 
conceptions  of  God's  attributes,  although  those 
conceptions  are  at  best  but  shadows  of  the  great 
reality.  Our  first  conception  of  God  is  that  He  is 
perfect.  What,  then,  is  perfection  ?  It  is  that  to 
which  nothing  can  be  added,  and  from  which 
nothing  can  be  subtracted.  In  a  perfect  being, 
the  attributes  of  justice,  mercy,  and  love  must  be 
co-equal,  and  not  an  atom  must  be  allowed  to  pre- 
ponderate in  either  so  as  to  affect  the  perfect 
balance  of  the  three.  Omniscience  holds  the 
scales,  hence  the  equal  balance.  When  to  omni- 
science we  add  omnipresence  and  omnipotence, 
and  meditate  upon  the  meaning  of  these  words, 
reason  enables  us  to  apprehend  the  perfection  of 
the  Supreme  Being,  who  permits  us  to  address  Him 
as  '  Our  Father.'  We  find  ourselves,  as  it  were, 
standing  at  the  source  of  a  great  river.     We  see  the 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  57 

water  issuing  from  the  earth,  bubbling  up  from  its 
unknown  depths  :  we  trace  its  course,  and  see  it 
widening  and  deepening  as  it  rolls  on  towards  the 
ocean.  At  the  meeting  of  the  waters  we  lose  sight 
of  the  river,  but  it  is  not  lost ;  it  has  but  united 
itself  with  the  sea.  The  man  who,  while  sailing 
down  the  stream  of  Time,  contemplates  the  Divine 
Author  of  both  spirit  and  matter,  feels  that  he  is 
gliding  on  towards  the  ocean  of  God's  love,  and 
that  his  spirit  is  returning  to  the  God  who  gave  it, 
to  live  for  ever  with  angels,  and  archangels,  and  the 
'  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect '  in  the  eternal 
spheres. 

Once  more,  let  us  go  back  to  the  time  when  man 
was  not,  and  learn,  from  what  preceded  his  crea- 
tion, the  lesson  that  can  also  be  learned  from 
every  page  of  the  history  of  man.  It  is  a  lesson 
that  each  individual  act  of  self-sacrifice  illustrates, 
and  each  illustration  proves  the  power  that  is  exer- 
cised by  spirit  over  matter,  and  testifies  to  the 
reality  of  the  supernatural.  The  logic  of  facts 
suffices  to  prove  that  sacrifice  is  the  offspring  of 
love.  Enthroned  in  sublime  isolation,  the  Eternal 
Trinity  held  the  first  council.  What  was  its  sub-  . 
ject  ?  The  creation  of  man.  The  Father,  the  Son 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  took  counsel  together  ere  man 
was  made.  Angels,  principalities  and  powers  were 
willed  into  existence ;  countless  worlds  were 
created;    and  when  the  foundations  of  the  earth 


58  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

were  laid,  the  '  morning  stars  sang  together,  and  all 
the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy.'  Why?  When 
this  world  was  to  become  a  great  battle-field,  a 
great  grave-yard,  why  should  other  worlds  rejoice, 
and  the  angels  sing  ?  Only  to  the  '  Three  Persons 
in  one  God '  could  have  been  known  Earth's 
history ;  but  when  its  Corner-stone  was  laid,  the 
sacrifice  of  the  Son  was  virtually  made,  and  the 
divine  love  in  a  sublime  sacrifice  filled  all  creation. 
This  '  mystery  of  God '  was  hidden,  until  God's 
own  time  for  revealing  came  ;  but,  as  it  is  written, 
1  before  they  call,  I  will  answer,'  so,  before  man  was 
created  or  had  fallen,  the  Saviour  was  ready,  the 
Sacrifice  for  sin  prepared,  and  the  '  Gloria  in 
Excelsis '  was  sung  in  heaven  long  before  the  angels 
were  sent  to  sing  it  on  earth.  All  was  known  to 
the  Holy  Trinity :  man's  disobedience  in  Eden  ; 
all  the  sin  and  all  the  suffering  caused  by  sin  ; 
the  outer  and  the  inner  life  of  each  human  being 
that  should  be  born  into  the  world,  every  thought, 
word  and  deed  of  each  was  known  ;  all  were  seen 
in  the  light  which  proceeds  from  the  Author  of 
Light :  and  yet  the  creation  of  man  was  decreed. 

We  are  not  told  that  love  is  one  of  God's  attributes, 
but  that  '  God  is  love ';  and  this  helps  us  to  under- 
stand how  it  is  that  laying  the  Corner-stone  of  what 
was  to  become  a  battle-field  of  woe  was  the  cause  of 
rejoicing  throughout  God's  creation  ;  for,  in  that 
world  of  strife,  Love  was  to  be  sacrificed,  in  the 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  59 

Person  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  order  that  man  might  be 
restored  to  the  image  of  God,  and  live  for  ever  with 
Him.  Christ  took  our  flesh  so  that  He  might  be 
like  us  in  all  things,  sin  excepted  ;  and  if  we  would 
be  like  Him  in  glory,  we  must  be  conformed  to 
Him,  and  follow  in  His  footprints  through  our 
valley  of  humiliation.  He  is  the  '  Way,  the  Truth 
and  the  Life.'  From  the  cradle  to  the  cross  He 
lived  the  life  of  ordinary  humanity ;  His  divinity 
was  veiled,  but  it  was  not  hidden,  save  from  those 
whom  the  '  God  of  this  world  had  blinded.'  Each 
of  His  disciples  is  a  living  sacrament,  as  He  was,  and 
still  is,  on  earth,  and  all  who  are  travelling  along  the 
road  their  Saviour  trod,  manifest  in  their  works  and 
conversation,  in  varying  degrees,  the  same  traits  of 
character  as  those  which  the  God-man  manifested 
in  perfection.  Truth  and  equity  in  their  dealings 
with  their  fellow-men  ;  purity  of  life,  charity  to- 
wards those  who  are  in  need  ;  courtesy  and  kind- 
ness to  all ;  '  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentle- 
ness, goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temperance,'  dis- 
tinguish them  from  those  who  live  after  the  flesh  ; 
and  those  fruits  of  the  Spirit  prove  their  sonship, 
and  their  oneness  with  the  Divine  Son.  They  are 
manifestations  of  the  divine,  indwelling  Spirit,  and 
are  no  more  of  earth  than  the  works  of  the  flesh 
are  of  God.  All  Christian  virtues  are  consum- 
mated in  self-sacrifice,  and  in  entire  submission  to 
the  Divine  Will.     So  it  is  that  we  learn  of  God,  by 


6o  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

the  presence  of  His  free  Spirit  within  us,  and  we 
are  led  by  the  Spirit  to  study  Nature  and  to  find 
God  everywhere. 

'  Thine,  O  Lord,  is  the  kingdom, 
Thine  the  glory  and  power  ; 
Thou  hast  kindled  the  starlight, 
Thou  hast  moulded  the  flower. 

'  All  things  live  by  Thy  presence, 

All  things  obey  Thy  will ; 
As  the  waters  the  ocean, 
Earth  Thy  glory  shall  fill. 

'  Thou  art  the  Father  of  spirits, 

Thought  is  begotten  of  Thee  ; 
In  Thine  image  begotten, 
Glorious,  boundless,  and  free. 

'  When  its  freedom  transgressing, 
Out  of  Thy  ways  hath  strayed, 
Thou  hast  provided  redemption, 
Thou  hast  atonement  made. 

'  Rolls  this  universe  onward, 

Circling  the  foot  of  Thy  throne  ; 
Matter,  and  life,  and  spirit, 
Guided  by  Thee  alone. 

'  Righteous  are  all  Thy  judgments, 
Perfect  are  all  Thy  ways. 
Who  shall  worthily  serve  Thee? 
Who  shall  utter  Thy  praise  ? 

1  Therefore  in  peril  and  sorrow, 

Therefore  in  joy's  bright  hour, 
Thine,  O  Lord,  is  the  kingdom, 
Thine  the  glory  and  power.' 

Although  God  is  everywhere  present,  man,  from 
his  temporary  home  on  earth,  instinctively  raises 
his  eyes  to  heaven  when  he  prays  to  his  Father,  for 
in  the  highest  heaven,  wherever  that  may  be,  is  the 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  61 

throne  of  God,  and  there  Jesus  of  Nazareth  now  is. 
When  contemplating  God  in   His  works,  one   of 
man's    first   thoughts    concerns   the   glory  of  the 
firmament !     In  the  deep  blue  vault  of  space  are 
the  innumerable  suns  and  planets  which,  in  their 
ceaseless  movements,  are  ever  telling  the  story  of 
Almighty  power.     The  finite  is  lost  in  infinity  as 
the  fact  is  borne  in  upon  the  mind  that  this  grand 
array   of  stellar  worlds  is   only  the  outward   and 
visible   sign   of  the   unseen   reality,  the  material 
manifestation    of    the    Creator.       It    is    at    such 
moments  that  the  Great  Sacrament  is  seen  to  be 
man's  ultima   Thule,  as  it  is  also  his  beginning. 
The  magnitude  of  the  stupendous  whole  impresses 
him   when   he   reflects   that   this  world  is   but  a 
small  body  in  the  solar  system.     That  system,  con- 
sisting as  it  does  of  the  sun  with  its  attendant  planets 
and  asteroids,  and  the  satellites  of  those  planets,  is 
but  as  a  grain  of  sand  upon  the  sea-shore,  com- 
pared with  the  illimitable  universe.     Then,  too,  it 
is  that  he  apprehends  his  own  intellectual  power, 
as  it  is  shown  in  the  invention  of  instruments  which 
enable   him   to    bring  within  his  range  of  vision 
legions  of  stars  which   cannot  be  numbered;  for 
when  man  has  counted  the  6,000  stars  that  are 
visible  to  the  naked  eye,  the  telescope  will  reveal 
to  him  myriads  of  other  luminous  orbs ;  and   he 
will  learn  that  the  stars  which  we  can  see  at  night 
are  really  suns,  each  the  centre  of  attraction  for  a 


62  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

j   whole  galaxy  of  planets  and  satellites,  which  re- 
volve around  them. 

The  heaven-born  genius  that  taught  man  how  to 
make  the  telescope,  has  enabled  him  also  to  calcu- 
late the  distance  from  the  earth  of  those  far-off 
worlds  which   have   been   thus  revealed   to   him. 
Astronomers  tell  us  that  the  distance  between  the 
earth   and  the   sun    is  38,000,000   leagues;    that 
light  travels  77,000  leagues  in  a  second;  therefore 
light  from  the  sun  takes  seven  minutes  and  thirteen 
seconds  to  reach  the  earth.     Taking  the  distance 
between  the  earth  and  the  sun  as  a  standard  of 
measurement,  or  unit,  they  compute  the  distance 
of  one  of  the  stars  nearest  to  us  to  be  55 1,000  times 
our  unit,  and,  supposing  the  light  from  this  star  in 
the  constellation  of  the  Swan  to  travel  77,000  leagues 
in  a  second,  it  would  take  nine  and  a  half  years 
to  reach  the  earth.     The  polar  star  being  distant 
from  the  earth  3,678,000   times  that  of  the  sun, 
the  time  occupied  in  the  transit  of  light  from  that 
brilliant  orb  is  fifty  years  :  and  when  we  consider 
that  these  and  other  splendid  suns  are  the  nearest 
to  us,  and  are  called  stars  of  the  first  or  second 
magnitude  on  account,   not  of  their  size,  but  of 
their  brilliance,  and  then   call  to   mind  the    fact 
that  man  can  estimate  the  distance  of  telescopic 
stars    of    the    fourteenth    magnitude,    whose   light 
would  take   100,000  years  to  reach   the  earth,  we 
can  account   for  man's  power  by  believing  what 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  63 

revelation  teaches,  that  we  are  made  in  the  image 
of  God ;  and,  as  His  children,  are  endowed  with  a 
portion  of  His  own  spirit  of  wisdom  and  know- 
ledge. He  who  made  the  eye  limited  its  power  of 
sight  as,  in  His  wisdom,  He  saw  was  best  for  man 
on  the  whole,  but,  as  if  to  prove  to  the  wise  that 
the  invisible  is  greater  than  the  visible,  and  that 
spirit  reigns  over  and  controls  matter,  He  endowed 
earnest  seekers  after  truth  with  faculties  which 
enable  them  to  extend  the  power  of  sight,  so  as  to 
bring  within  view  56  millions  of  suns;  and  as- 
tronomers only  stop  at  that  inconceivable  number, 
because  no  telescope  is  powerful  enough  to  enable 
them  to  see  smaller  stars  than  those  of  the  four- 
teenth magnitude.  Herschel,  who  examined  the 
whole  extent  of  what  is  called  the  Milky  Way,  esti- 
mated the  number  of  stars  in  that  vast  nebula  at 
18,000,000.  The  length  of  the  Milky  Way  has 
been  estimated  to  be  from  700  to  800  times  the 
distance  from  Sirius  to  the  sun,  a  distance  which 
is  1,373,000  times  that  from  the  earth  to  the  sun  ; 
so  that  a  ray  of  light  from  a  star  at  one  extremity 
would  take  15,000  years  to  reach  one  at  the  other 
extremity. 

The  mind  is  bewildered  by  thus  dwelling  upon 
what  the  telescope  reveals.  We  see  so  far  into  the 
boundless  depths  of  infinite  space  that  we  begin 
to  understand  what  infinity  means.  We  feel  that 
we  are  '  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made,'  when  the 


64  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

thought  comes  home  to  us,  that  the  human  intel- 
lect has  enabled  man  to  make  an  instrument  which 
discloses  wonders  that  overwhelm  the  imagination. 
He  feels  exultant,  but  his  own  greatness  is  an  awe- 
inspiring  fact  to  the  Christian  Philosopher,  and  his 
spirit  bows  down  before  the  Giver  of  intellect  in 
lowliest  self-abasement  and  adoration.  We  know 
not  yet  what  vaster  fields  for  science  to  explore 
may  be  opened  out  to  man  ;  but  we  do  know  that, 
in  the  highest  sense,  his  faculty  is  infinite ;  there  is 
no  limit  to  his  attainments,  even  during  the  period 
of  his  mortal  life.  He  may,  and  probably  he  will, 
go  on  soaring  higher  and  higher,  if  only  as  he 
ascends  he  remembers  his  Creator,  and  keeps  a 
firm  hold  of  that  chain  which  anchors  him  to  the 
Rock  of  Ages.  But  if  he  let  that  slip  from  him, 
he  will,  notwithstanding  all  his  great  power,  be 
but  as  a  flashing  meteor  or  a  falling  star.  If  man 
forgets  God,  and  will  believe  in  nothing  higher 
than  himself,  then,  however  high-souled  and  lofty- 
minded  he  may  be ;  to  whatever  height  he  may 
build  up  his  knowledge,  and  however  firmly  he 
may  fix  each  stone  and  set  each  jewel  of  his  build- 
ing by  so-called  facts  and  clear  demonstrations, 
he,  having  no  inherent  self-sustaining  power,  will 
certainly  fall  like  Lucifer  at  last,  and  have  to  learn 
concerning  God  in  the  bitter  experiences  of  another 
stage  of  his  existence. 

Mighty  as  the  power  of  God  is  seen  to  be  in  the 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  65 

mystery  of  the  million  stars,  we  may  gain  a  yet 
more  exalted  idea  of  His  creative  power  by  a 
study  of  the  infinitely  small.  Each  minute  part  of 
inanimate  nature  testifies  to  the  skill  and  design  of 
a  Master-mind.  The  microscope  demonstrates  the 
perfection  of  infinitesimal  particles  up  to  that  point 
where  the  microscope  fails  to  disclose  yet  smaller 
things,  as  the  telescope  fails  at  a  certain  point  to 
show  us  worlds  beyond  a  measurable  distance  in 
space.  '  Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God,'  is  the 
voice  of  Revelation.  All  Creation  echoes  the 
words  from  height  to  height,  and  from  depth  to 
depth.  Man's  yearning  to  comprehend  the  incom- 
prehensible cannot  be  satisfied  in  time.  The  ulti- 
mate of  the  microcosm  as  of  the  macrocosm  is  at 
present  inconceivable.  Man's  investigations  both 
of  the  seen  and  unseen  universe  can  only  end  as 
they  began,  with  God. 

A  geologist,*  whose  microscopic  study  of  the 
rocks  has  made  him  eminent  in  that  department  of 
science,  remarks,  { It  is  only  recently  that  micro- 
scopical investigations  have  revealed  the  existence 
of  extremely  beautiful  objects  in  many  of  the 
common  rocks  with  which  our  country  roads,  and 
the  streets  of  our  towns,  are  paved  and  repaired. 
Black  or  dark  gray  stones  of  the  most  ordinary 
and  unattractive  appearance  are  found  to  be  en- 
tirely composed  of  minute  brilliant  crystals  whose 
*  S.  Allport,  Esq.,  F.G.S. 

5 


66  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

forms  and  colours  correspond  precisely  with  some 
of  the  larger  specimens  to  be  seen  in  our  museums, 
or  other  collections  of  minerals.  These  micro- 
scopic crystals  are,  however,  transparent,  and  ex- 
hibit far  brighter  colours  than  the  corresponding 
larger  and  opaque  specimens.  The  great  beauty 
exhibited  by  a  thin  slice  of  one  of  these  rocks  is 
by  no  means  confined  to  the  minerals  of  which  it 
is  composed ;  in  fact,  the  structure  of  the  rock,  as 
seen  in  the  way  in  which  the  constituents  are 
arranged  and  grouped  together,  is  as  interesting 
and  important  as  it  is  beautiful.  In  some  rocks 
three  or  four  different  minerals  are  seen  to  be 
scattered  irregularly  throughout  the  mass  ;  in  others 
two  intercrystallized  on  a  definite  plan  :  or  again, 
minute  crystals  of  one  kind  only  are  grouped  to- 
gether in  rosettes,  or  even  aggregated  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  form  the  most  striking  resemblance 
to  certain  vegetable  forms  of  growth.  Doubtless 
the  form  of  each  individual  crystal  is  determined 
by  definite  laws  of  crystallization,  but  the  arrange- 
ment of  vast  numbers  of  these  minute  bodies  in 
the  well-defined  symmetrical  groups  just  mentioned 
still  remains  an  unsolved  problem.' 

There  is  not,  perhaps,  in  the  whole  range  of 
science  a  branch  that  more  emphatically  proclaims 
the  existence  of  a  Lawgiver  than  crystallography 
does.  Even  a  superficial  knowledge  of  the  crystal- 
line relations  of  forms,   and   the  classification  of 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  67 

crystals,  or  the  most  cursory  examination  of  the 
definite  and  symmetrical  forms  assigned  to  each, 
leads  to  the  inevitable  conclusion  that  they  are 
moulded  with  mathematical  precision,  into  the 
various  forms  peculiar  to  certain  substances,  by 
unvarying  laws.  A  spirit  of  philosophical  pagan- 
ism may  be  satisfied  that  the  working  of  unchang- 
ing laws  through  unknown  ages  is  the  outcome  of 
fortuitous  combinations,  but  the  unbiased  mind  of 
man  recognises  that  laws  are  not,  and  cannot  be, 
self-executive,  and  that  the  existence  of  orderly 
laws  of  nature  proves  the  thought  and  the  will  of  a 
Lawmaker.  To  write  even  an  elementary  epitome 
of  any  branch  of  science  is  not  necessary  in  the 
attempt  which  is  here  made  to  prove  the  reality  of 
the  supernatural.  The  present  purpose  is  to 
demonstrate  to  those  who  have  not,  in  these  days 
of  fierce  competition  for  the  means  of  existence, 
time  to  study  and  to  think  for  themselves,  that  the 
material  world  is  but  the  casket  which  holds  the 
real  crown  of  creation ;  the  mortal  body  does  but 
form  an  environment  for  the  immortal  soul.  The 
vital  energy,  which  some  men  substitute  for  God, 
is  but  the  result  of  the  active  volition  of  the 
Almighty. 

A  few  illustrations  may,  however,  be  given  of  the 
evident  design,  and  the  geometrical  precision,  which 
are  to  be  met  with  in  the  crystal  world. 

When  looking  over  a  collection  of  crystals,  the 


68  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

first  impression  would  come  from  their  brilliance  and 
beauty  ;  the  next  feeling  would  be  one  of  wonder 
at  the  great  variety  of  the  forms  j  these,  however, 
according  to  the  classification  adopted  by  miner- 
alogists, may  be  arranged  in  six  well-defined 
systems.  The  primary  forms  of  all  known  crystals 
are  few,  but  the  secondary  ascertained  forms  of 
crystals  are  so  numerous  that  no  limit  can  be 
assigned  to  them.  In  one  of  the  minerals,  car- 
bonate of  lime,  they  amount  to  many  hundreds ; 
and  mineralogists  assert  that  '  thousands,  and  tens 
of  thousands,  more  might  occur  under  the  opera- 
tion of  known  and  definite  laws,  so  that  all  the 
alterations  of  figure  which  any  given  primary  form 
can  undergo  might  be  determined  a  priori,  if  the 
extreme  limits  of  the  relative  proportions  of  the 
edges  considered  to  be  cut  off  in  producing  new 
planes  were  known.  Within  well-ascertained  limits, 
however,  many  thousands  of  possible  secondary 
forms,  belonging  to  each  kind  of  primary,  might  be 
determined  with  absolute  precision.  The  exact 
relations  among  primary  and  secondary  forms  may 
be  determined  mathematically,  sometimes  from 
measurement,  and  sometimes  from  parallelisms 
between  certain  edges  of  the  secondary  figures ; 
and  the  mathematical  processes  may  be  either  those 
of  plane  trigonometry,  as  applied  by  Haiiy,  or 
spherical  trigonometry,  as  used  by  other  authors ; 
or   analytical   geometry,    as  applied  by   Professor 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  69 

Whewell  in  a  paper  in  the  'Phil.  Trans.'  for  1825  ; 
or  by  referring  the  planes  of  the  crystal  to  the  sur- 
face of  a  sphere,  and  denoting  their  positions 
stereographically,  as  shown  in  a  paper  by  Pro- 
fessor Miller,  of  Cambridge,  in  the  Lo?idon  and 
Edinburgh  Phil.  Mag.  of  February,  1835.' 

These  quotations  on  the  formation  of  crystals, 
proving  as  they  do  the  continuous  working  of  an 
invariable  law  in  the  production  of  certain  figures, 
are  interesting  even  if  the  mind  pursue  the  subject 
no  further ;  but  when  the  extreme  slowness  of 
natural  crystallization  is  considered  in  connection 
with  the  construction  of  early  crystalline  rocks ; 
when  geologists  point  to  the  marvellously  beautiful 
crystallized  minerals  embedded  long  ages  ago  in 
rocks  that  were  ancient  in  prehistoric  time  ;  when 
we  fix  the  mind's  eye  upon  the  grand  range  of 
basaltic  columns,  known  as  the  '  Giants'  Cause- 
way,' or  stand  in  imagination  in  '  Fingal's  Cave,' 
thought  takes  a  wider  and  a  higher  flight,  back 
into  the  unknown  past,  forward  into  the  unknown 
future  ;  and  the  man  of  science  who  believes  that 
the  God  of  the  universe  is  His  own  eternal  Father, 
made  strong  by  that  belief,  is  in  the  attitude  of  the 
commander  of  an  impregnable  fortress;  his  armour 
is  proof  against  any  weapon  that  can  assail  it  :  he 
has  a  fountain  of  living  water  within  his  citadel 
which  never  fails,  for  its  source  is  the  same  as  that 
of  the  'pure  river  of  water  of  life,  clear  as  crystal,' 


70  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

which  St.  John  saw  'proceeding  out  of  the  throne 
of  God  and  of  the  Lamb ';  and  he  is  able  to  hold 
his  own  against  a  host  of  unbelievers  :  '  his  place 
of  defence  shall  be  the  munitions  of  rocks ;  bread 
shall  be  given  him,  his  water  shall  be  sure.'  There- 
fore he  takes  his  stand  in  the  present  age  of  ad- 
vanced knowledge  and  atheistic  tendency,  with 
firm,  unwavering  faith,  assured  that  the  laws  which 
the  crystal  has  taught  him  were  governing  Nature 
in  the  beginning  and  are  everlasting  laws,  framed  to 
keep  in  order  the  works  of  God  while  time  and 
being  last.  There  can  be  no  alteration  in  perfect 
laws  which,  since  they  were  made  for  a  universe 
that  is  composed  of  spirit  and  matter,  must  work 
harmoniously,  and  be  efficient  for  the  purpose  for 
which  they  are  designed.  Certain  as  we  are  from 
actual  observation  that  the  invisible  sustains  and 
controls  the  visible,  we  know  but  little  in  compari- 
son with  what  we  shall  know  ;  for  as  Carlyle  has 
said,  '  All  visible  things  are  emblems.  What  thou 
seest  is  not  there  on  its  own  account;  strictly 
speaking  is  not  there  at  all.  Matter  exists  spiritually, 
and  to  represent  some  idea,  and  body  it  forth.'  It  is 
so  with  human  speech  ;  words  are  not  our  thoughts, 
and  oftener  than  not  they  fail  to  embody  our 
thoughts.  And  what  are  our  thoughts  ?  Whence 
do  they  come  ?  Do  they  originate  themselves  ? 
We  must  wait  before  we  can  hope  to  understand 
fully ;  but  Christ  has  given  us  light  on  this  deep 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  71 

subject.  '  Yet  a  little  while  and  ye  shall  know  that 
I  am  in  My  Father,  and  ye  in  Me,  and  I  in  you.' 
On  these  words  we  can  rest,  for  they  tell  us  that 
1  of  Him,  and  through  Him,  and  to  Him,  are  all 
things  ':  and  that  man's  home  is  his  Father's  house, 
where  he  will  learn  lessons  that  cannot  be  mastered 
here  below,  and  understand  mysteries  which,  with 
his  present  opportunities  of  acquiring  knowledge, 
are  quite  beyond  his  grasp. 

The  Giants'  Causeway,  to  which  reference  has 
been  made,  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  orderly 
arrangements  of  Nature.  The  compact  texture  of 
the  basalt  is  a  feature  of  the  rock  which  is  chiefly 
interesting  on  account  of  its  columnar  structure. 
The  columns  range  in  height  from  twenty  to  thirty 
feet,  and  form  colonnades  for  a  distance  of  nearly 
three  miles.  Some  of  these  columns  are  penta- 
gonal, others  are  three,  four  and  six  sided  ;  each 
column  is  distinct  from  its  neighbour,  yet  they  are 
so  close  together  that  it  is  difficult  to  insert  a  knife 
between  them.  The  most  commanding  series  cf 
columns,  stretching  out  into  the  sea,  is  from  twenty 
to  forty  feet  broad.  There  they  stand,  like  sentinels 
at  their  post,  forming  a  grand  breastwork,  against 
which  the  wild  waves  of  the  ocean  in  the  succes- 
sive storms  of  the  ages  have  dashed  in  vain.  The 
ebb  and  flow  of  the  tides  have  washed  some  of  the 
columns  from  their  original  position,  but  the  stu- 
pendous mass — which  was  believed  in  far-orT  days  to 


72  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

be  the  work  of  a  race  of  giants  that  had  once  in- 
habited the  island — still  remains.  Travellers  tell 
us  that  the  most  magnificent  instance  of  basaltic 
formation  occurs  in  the  Oregon  country,  where  the 
Columbia  flows  through  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
There  the  explorer  may  see  walls  presenting  '  suc- 
cessive rows  of  greenstone  and  basaltic  columns, 
superimposed  upon  each  other,  divided  by  narrow 
horizontal  beds  of  different  composition,'  towering 
above  him  from  four  hundred  to  one  thousand  feet 
in  height. 

We  now  direct  attention  to  specimens  of  the 
crystal  kingdom  which  are  found  in  deep  caverns.* 
In  those  dark  places,  where  no  ray  of  sunlight  can 
find  entrance,  are  the  most  wonderful  varieties  of 
crystals  and  stalactites.  The  hidden  recesses  of 
a  range  of  mountain  limestone  have  their  arched 
roofs  decorated  with  glistening  pendants,  and  their 
walls  covered  with  brilliant  crystals,  some  pure 
transparent  white,  others  tinted  with  bright  and 
beautiful  colours.     There,  too,  may  be  seen  huge 

*  These  caverns,  which  occur  in  many  limestone  districts, 
have  been  formed  by  the  long-continued  percolation  of  surface 
water,  which,  by  dissolving  and  removing  portions  of  the 
carbonate  of  lime,  has  gradually  produced  underground 
channels  and  caverns  ;  and  during  the  lapse  of  ages  the 
stalactites  and  groups  of  crystals,  which  now  adorn  the  walls 
and  sides  of  the  cavities,  have  been  slowly  formed  by  the 
crystallization  of  the  substances  held  in  solution.  The  greater 
part  of  the  beautiful  minerals  found  in  veins  and  cavities  have 
crystallized  out  from  various  solutions,  and  have,  therefore, 
quite  a  different  origin  from  those  found  in  igneous  rocks. 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  73 

stalactites,  forming  pillars  which  are  perfect  from 
floor  to  roof ;  here  and  there  is  a  screen,  adorned 
with  Gothic  tracery,  or  a  pendant  curtain,  almost 
transparent,  and  falling  in  natural  folds.  No  words 
can  give  more  than  a  faint  idea  of  the  beauty  of 
these  caverns  ;  and  then,  what  a  history  each  crystal 
has  !  What  was  it  before  it  took  a  solid  form  ? 
We  are  told  that  darkness  was  upon  the  face  of 
the  deep  before  the  '  Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the 
face  of  the  waters  ';  that  the  decree  went  forth, 
'  Let  the  waters  under  the  heaven  be  gathered  to- 
gether unto  one  p^ce,  and  let  the  dry  land  appear, 
and  it  was  so ' ;  that  on  the  fourth  day,  God  made 
two  great  lights ;  the  greater  light  to  rule  the  day, 
and  the  lesser  light  to  rule  the  night.'  When  the 
time  came  that  the  Lord  God  caused  it  to  rain  upon 
the  earth,  the  sunbeams  did  their  beneficent  work, 
drawing  up  countless  drops  from  the  ocean,  dew- 
drops  from  the  moistened  earth,  and  rain-drops 
from  the  green  things  and  flowers  into  the  higher 
realm  of  creation,  where  they  expanded  and  became 
ethereal,  roaming  through  space  with  the  winds, 
and  helping  to  build  up  clouds  which  the  sun  could 
fringe  with  crimson  and  gold.  Floating  in  the  air, 
flecking  the  earth  with  their  shadows,  they  waited 
until  Nature's  laws  caused  them  again  to  fall  in 
gentle  rain,  or  in  glittering  morsels  of  ice,  or 
feathery  snow ;  some,  perhaps,  to  be  drawn  up  and 
etherealized  by  the  sunbeams,  some  to  trickle  down 


74  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

the  mountain-side  into  narrow  crevices,  passing 
through  beds  of  limestone  and  other  minerals  until 
they  reached  their  final  destination  and  were  trans- 
formed into  crystals,  causing  the  dark  mountain 
caves  to  become  '  things  of  beauty,'  which  should 
declare  to  man  the  unchanging  nature  of  the  laws 
that  govern  matter. 

From  the  mountain  cave  let  us  descend  to  one 
of  the  deep  sea  valleys  of  ancient  time,  for  there  an 
unattractive-looking  piece  of  stone  leads  us.  It 
was  broken  off  a  larger  piece,  and  left  by  the 
stone-breaker  on  his  heap.  It  is  a  portion  of  the 
fossilized  remains  of  the  orthoceratite,  a  member 
of  an  extinct  family  of  cephalopodous  mollusca. 
This  is  embedded  in  the  stone.  The  orthoceratite 
lived  in  a  many-chambered  dwelling,  each  chamber 
being  skilfully  walled  in  after  the  little  animal  had 
left  it  to  build  a  larger  one ;  and  so  the  structure 
grew,  until  its  inhabitant  had  attained  its  full  size. 
Who  gave  the  architect  the  skill  to  build,  and  the 
material  of  which  to  fashion  a  well-nigh  imperish- 
able dwelling-place?  The  orthoceratite  died  be- 
neath the  deep  waters  ;  its  work  remained,  and 
one  day  a  delicate,  fragile  creature,  named  lingula, 
and  considered  by  geologists  to  belong  to  a  class 
of  animals  named  brachiopoda,  saw  that  the  work 
of  the  orthoceratite  was  a  foundation  on  which  it 
could   fix  itself  securely  by   means   of  the   fibro- 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  75 

gelatinous  peduncle  depending  from  the  extremity 
of  the  elongated  bivalve  shell  in  which  it  lived,  and 
it  elected  to  stay  there.  Gently  moving  to  and  fro 
by  means  of  its  slender  pedicle  in  the  still,  deep 
waters  which  no  tidal  waves  disturbed,  the  lingula 
lived  its  little  life.  Meanwhile  other  creatures  of 
the  sea,  of  delicate,  plant-like  appearance,  and  so 
low  in  the  scale  of  animal  creation  that  the 
naturalists  of  earlier  days  believed  them  to  belong 
to  the  vegetable  kingdom,  commenced  their  work. 
These  are  known  as  anthozoa  or  zoophites. 
Myriads  of  them  began  to  build,  and  soon  they 
raised  a  wall  of  coral  around  the  lingula,  their 
foundation  being  the  compact,  hard  work  of  the 
orthoceratite.  The  finished  work  of  these  three 
creatures  of  an  ancient  sea  has  been  preserved  in 
Nature's  treasure-house,  and  illustrates  one  of  the 
pages  of  her  great  book  ;  each  part  is  as  perfect  as 
when  the  architects  built  their  own  dwelling-places 
according  to  the  design  of  the  Master-builder. 
Time  rolled  on,  and  when  the  mighty  forces  up- 
heaved the  mountains,  the  oceanic  valleys  in  which 
the  orthocera  lived  became  dry  land ;  the  strata 
below  the  old  red  system  revealed  to  man  the 
existence  of  this  long-extinct  family,  which  natural- 
ists connect  on  one  side  with  nautilidae  and  on  the 
other  with  ammonitidae.  Of  these  latter  '  twin 
creatures  of  the  sea,'  a  philosopher-poet  has  written : 


76  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

'The  Nautilus  and  the  Ammonite 
Were  launched  in  friendly  strife, 
Each  sent  to  float  in  its  tiny  boat 
On  the  wide,  wide  sea  of  life. 

1  For  each  could  swim  on  the  ocean's  brim, 

And  when  wearied  its  sails  could  furl, 
And  sink  to  sleep  in  the  great  sea-deep, 
In  its  palace,  all  of  pearl. 

'And  theirs  was  a  bliss  more  fair  than  this 
^  That  we  feel  in  our  colder  time  ; 
For  they  were  rife  in  a  tropic  life, 
In  a  brighter  and  better  clime. 

'  They  swam  'mid  isles,  whose  summer  smiles 

No  wintry  winds  annoy  ; 
Whose  groves  are  palm,  whose  air  is  balm, 
Where  life  is  only  joy. 

'  They  sailed  all  day  through  creek  and  bay 

And  traversed  the  ocean  deep, 
And  at  night  they  sank  on  a  coral  bank, 
In  its  fairy  bowers  to  sleep. 

1  And  the  monsters  vast,  of  ages  past, 
They  beheld  in  their  ocean  caves  ; 
They  saw  them  ride  in  their  power  and  pride, 
And  sink  in  their  deep-sea  graves. 

'  And  hand  in  hand,  from  strand  to  strand, 

They  sailed  in  mirth  and  glee — 
Those  fairy  shells  with  their  crystal  cells, 
Twin  creatures  of  the  sea. 

'  And  they  came  at  last  to  a  sea  long  past, 

But  as  they  reached  its  shore. 
The  Almighty's  breath  spoke  out  in  death, 
And  the  Ammonite  lived  no  more. 

1  And  the  Nautilus  now,  in  its  shelly  prow, 

As  over  the  deep  it  strays, 
Still  seems  to  seek  in  bay  and  creek 
Its  companion  of  other  days. 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  77 

'  And  thus  do  we  on  life's  stormy  sea, 

As  we  roam  from  shore  to  shore, 
While  tempest- tossed,  seek  the  loved,  the  lost, 
But  find  them  on  earth  no  more. 

1  Yet  the  hope,  how  sweet !  again  to  meet, 
As  we  look  to  a  distant  strand, 
Where  heart  finds  heart,  and  no  more  they  part, 
Who  meet  in  that  better  land.'* 

It  is  difficult  to  condense  even  a  part  of  the  interest- 
ing information  that  geologists  have  made  known 
about  the  nautilus  and  the  ammonite ;  but  brief 
extracts  from  their  essays  may  be  given,  which  will 
teach  the  same  lesson  that  the  crystal  taught,  al- 
though the  one  has  to  do  with  inanimate  matter, 
the  other  with  sentient  life.  We  may  notice  in 
passing  some  remarks  of  Aristotle,  who,  after  de- 
scribing the  naked  cephalopods,  says  :  '  There  are 
also  two  polypi  in  shells ;  one  is  called  by  some 
nautilus,  by  others  nauticus.  It  is  like  the  polypus, 
but  its  shell  resembles  a  hollow  comb  or  pecten, 
and  is  not  attached.  The  polypus  ordinarily  feeds 
near  the  seashore ;  sometimes  it  is  thrown  by  the 
waves  on  the  dry  land,  and  the  shell  falling  from 
it,  is  caught,  and  there  dies.  The  other  is  in  a 
shell  like  a  snail,  and  this  does  not  go  out  of  its 
shell,  but  remains  in  it  like  a  snail,  and  sometimes 
stretches  forth  its  cirrhi  externally.'  The  latter 
was,  no  doubt,  the  true  nautilus  :  the  former  the 
beautiful  argonauta,  or  paper  nautilus,  as  it  is  com- 

*  Dr.  Ick. 


78  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

monly  called.  The  shell  is  spiral,  involute,  mem- 
branaceous, and  without  chambers ;  it  serves  the 
creature  that  inhabits  it  for  a  boat,  the  membrane 
of  which  he  can  extend  at  pleasure,  using  it  as  a 
sail;  his  tentacula  he  uses  as  oars.  Thus  equipped, 
his  fairy  boat,  light  as  a  feather  and  white  as  snow, 
floats  on  the  surface  of  calm  waters,  or,  on  the 
approach  of  danger,  or  when  a  storm  arises,  by 
absorbing  a  quantity  of  sea-water,  he  descends  to 
his  native  dwelling-place,  the  bed  of  the  ocean. 
The  pearly  nautilus  has  the  same  kind  of  tentacula 
and  membranaceous  sail,  and  in  its  habits  it  re- 
sembles the  argonauta,  but  in  the  construction  of 
its  shell  there  is  an  essential  difference :  that  of  the 
argonauta  is  unilocular  ;  that  of  the  pearly  nautilus 
is  many-chambered ;  the  divisions  are  concave 
towards  the  side  next  to  the  aperture,  being  per- 
forated and  connected  by  a  syphon  formed  of  a 
thin,  testaceous  matter,  lined  with  a  membrane  of 
the  animal.  It  has  been  well  said  of  the  shell  of 
the  nautilus  :  '  It  is  a  vessel  which  no  human  hand 
has  formed,  guided  by  no  human  skill — a  striking 
proof,  amid  the  terrors  and  wonders  of  the  deep, 
that,  whilst  nothing  is  too  great  for  the  controlling 
power  of  Omnipotence,  nothing  is  too  humble  for 
His  protecting  care.'* 

Of  the  origin  of  the  fossil  ammonite  many  a 

*  A  most  interesting  account  of  this  animal  has  been 
given  by  Professor  Owen  in  his  *  Memoir  of  the  Pearly 
Nautilus.' 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  79 

fabulous  story  has  been  invented  in  earlier  days. 
One  old  legend  tells  of  the  snakes  that  infested  the 
convent  of  Whitby,  and  says  that,  at  the  prayer  of 
the  saintly  abbess,  they  were  converted  into  stone, 
or,  in  Scott's  words, 

'  How,  of  a  thousand  snakes,  each  one 
Was  changed  into  a  coil  of  stone, 

When  holy  Hilda  prayed.' 

But  science  has  relegated  all  these  old  stories  to 
the  region  of  fiction,  and  proved  how  nearly  allied 
the  ammonite  was  to  the  nautilus.     In  Dr.  Buck- 
land's  '  Bridgwater  Treatise '  is  described  the  various 
arrangements  which  secure  lightness  and  strength 
to  the  shell,  proving  that  no  more  perfect  instru- 
ment for  affording  resistance  to  external  pressure 
could  be  conceived.     The  Professor's  summary  is  : 
'  As   the  animal  increased  in  bulk,  and  advanced 
along  the  outer  chamber  of  the  shell,  the  spaces 
left  behind  it  were  successively  converted  into  air- 
chambers,  simultaneously  increasing  the  power  of 
the  float.     This  float  being  regulated  by  a  pipe 
passing  through  the  whole  series  of  the  chambers, 
formed   a   hydraulic   instrument   of   extraordinary 
delicacy,  by  which  the  animal  could  at  pleasure 
control  its  ascent  to  the  surface  or  descent  to  the 
bottom  of  the  sea.     To  creatures  that  sometimes 
floated,  a  thick  and  heavy  shell  would  have  been 
inapplicable;    and   as    a   thin    shell   inclosing   air 
would  be  exposed  to  various   and   often   intense 


80  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

degrees  of  pressure  at  the  bottom,  we  find  a  series 
of  provisions  to  afford  resistance  to  such  pressure 
in  the  mechanical  construction  both  of  the  external 
shell,  and  of  the  internal  transverse  plates  which 
formed  the  air-chambers.  First,  the  shell  is  made 
up  of  a  tube  coiled  round  itself,  and  externally 
convex.  Secondly,  it  is  fortified  by  a  series  of  ribs 
and  vaultings  disposed  in  the  form  of  arches  and 
domes  on  the  convex  surface  of  this  tube,  and  still 
further  adding  to  its  strength.  Thirdly,  the  trans- 
verse plates  that  form  the  air-chambers  supply  also 
a  continuous  succession  of  supports,  extending 
their  ramifications,  with  many  mechanical  ad- 
vantages, beneath  those  portions  of  the  shell 
which,  being  weakest,  were  most  in  need  of  them.' 
Who  can  read  this  description  and  fail  to  see 
direct  and  conclusive  evidence  of  an  omniscient 
and  omnipotent  Designer,  who  has  been  actively 
engaged  in  the  arrangement  of  every  atom  that 
composed  these  beautiful  creatures  ?  The  Ammo- 
nite is  a  perfect  embodiment  of  the  will  of  One, 
who,  perfect  Himself,  could  not  will  the  creation 
of  anything  imperfect,  and,  as  such,  unfitted  to 
fulfil  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  created. 

If  the  fact  were  not  proved  beyond  the  possi- 
bility of  doubt,  that  men  of  great  intellectual  power 
and  acute  observation  do  deny  the  existence  of 
God,  and  openly  avow  their  unbelief,  the  mass  of 
mankind  would  not  believe  it  to  be  possible  that 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  Si 

such  a  paradox  as  cultured  reason  and  unbelief 
in  a  Giver  of  reason  could  live  in  the  minds  of 
men.  Laplace,  after  observing  that  'the  curve 
described  by  a  single  molecule  of  air,  or  any  fluid, 
is  subjected  to  laws  as  certain  as  those  of  the 
planetary  orbits,'  adds,  '  there  is  no  difference 
between  them,  but  what  arises  from  our  own  ignor- 
ance.' Unbelief  can  only  be  the  child  of  ignor- 
ance— that  is,  ignorance  of  fundamental  truth ; 
and  we  cannot  doubt  that  the  knowledge  which 
now  usurps  the  place  of  reason  will  one  day 
crown  itself  by  acknowledging  its  lawful  Sovereign. 
To  the  notes  on  the  nautilus  and  the  ammonite, 
it  will  be  well  to  add  Dr.  Buckland's  concluding 
observations  upon  the  affinities  of  the  chambered 
shells  of  Cephalopods.  He  writes  :  '  It  results 
from  the  view  we  have  taken  of  the  zoological 
affinities  between  living  and  extinct  species  of 
chambered  shells,  that  they  are  all  connected  by 
one  plan  of  organization,  each  forming  a  link  in 
the  common  chain  which  unites  existing  species 
with  those  that  prevailed  among  the  earliest  con- 
ditions of  life  upon  our  globe ;  and  all  attesting 
the  identity  of  the  design  that  has  effected  so 
many  similar  ends  through  such  a  variety  of  instru- 
ments, the  principle  of  whose  construction  is  in 
every  species  fundamentally  the  same.  Through- 
out the  various  living  and  extinct  genera  of  cham- 
bered   shells,    the   use   of    the   air-chambers    and 

6 


82  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

syphons,    to    adjust    the    specific   gravity    of    the 
animals    in    rising   and   sinking,  appears    to    have 
been  identical.     The  addition  of  a  new  transverse 
plate  within    the  conical   shell    added  a  new  air- 
chamber,  larger  than  the  preceding  one,  to  counter- 
balance the  increase  of  weight  that  attended  the 
growth  of  the  shell  and  body  of  these  animals. 
These  beautiful  arrangements  are,  and  ever  have 
been,  subservient  to  a  common  object,  namely,  the 
construction  of  hydraulic  instruments  of  essential 
importance  in  the  economy  of  creatures  destined 
to  move  sometimes  at  the  bottom  and  at  other 
times  upon  or  near  the  surface  of  the  sea.     The 
delicate  adjustments  whereby  the  same  principle  is 
extended   through  so  many  grades  and  modifica- 
tions of  a  single  type  show  the  uniform  and  con- 
stant agency  of  some  controlling  Intelligence  :  and 
in  searching  for  the  origin  of  so  much  method  and 
regularity  amidst  variety,  the  mind  can   only  rest 
when  it  has  passed  back  through  the  subordinate 
series  of  second  causes  to  that  great  first  cause, 
which  is  found  in  the  will  and  power  of  a  common 
Creator.' 

We  now  direct  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  the 
coral  insect  and  its  work.  One  becomes  almost 
lost  in  thought  when  regarding  the  tiny  polyps  that 
are  still  at  work  beneath  the  waters,  adding  to  the 
formations  of  ages,  working  by  the  same  law,  and 
taught  by  the  same  Teacher  as  their  progenitors. 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  83 

Their  work  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world. 
Each  little  builder  lives  and  dies  at  his  post.  His 
work  being  finished,  he  rests  from  his  labour,  and 
another  builds  on  the  foundation  he  has  laid  :  and 
when  man  goes  back  into  the  past,  and  investigates 
the  work  of  the  early  Cyathophylloids  in  Paleozoic 
time,  and  then  visits  the  coral  islands  and  reefs 
that  are  now  being  raised  above  the  waters,  stretch- 
ing for  hundreds  of  miles  along  the  shores  of 
continents,  his  pride  in  his  material  work  must  be 
brought  low.  Man  built  great  Babylon,  and  Rome, 
and  Heliopolis  ;  man  raised  the  Pyramids,  and  set 
the  massive  stones  of  Baalbec  in  their  places ;  but 
what  are  these  achievements  when  compared  with 
those  of  the  coral  insect  ? 

In  order  to  give  those  who  have  not  studied 
geology,  and  other  natural  sciences,  some  idea  of 
the  time  during  which  these  architects  of  the  ocean 
have  been  working,  it  will  be  well  to  give  the 
following  summary  of  geological  time  from  the 
interesting  work  on  '  Corals  and  Coral  Islands,'  by 
James  D.  Dana,  LL.D.  'Geological  history  be- 
gins with  what  has  been  called  Azoic  time,  Azoic 
signifying  the  absence  of  life.  But  the  rocks  sup- 
posed to  be  Azoic  have  been  found  to  afford 
evidence  of  the  existence  of  the  simplest  kinds  of 
life  during  their  formation ;  and  the  era  they 
represent  is,  therefore,  more  correctly  styled  the 
Archeozoic ;  from  the  Greek  for  beginning  and  life,1 


84  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

The  other  grand  subdivisions  of  geological  time 
are  as  follows  : 

i.  Paleozoic  time  (named  from  the  Greek  for 
ancient  life),  in  the  course  of  which  the  earliest 
corals,  mollusks,  crustaceans,  insects,  fishes  and 
reptiles  existed.  It  includes  three  ages  :  (i)  the 
Silurian;  (2)  the  Devonian,  or  age  of  fishes;  and 
(3)  the  Carboniferous,  or  age  of  coal-plants,  when 
the  most  extensive  beds  of  mineral  coal  of  the 
world  were  originated. 

2.  Mesozoic  time,  or  that  of  mediceval  life.  It 
corresponds  to  the  age  of  reptiles — being  the  era, 
not  of  the  earliest  reptiles,  but  that  of  their  climax 
in  number,  size,  and  variety.  This  age  is  divided 
into  three  periods  :  first,  or  earliest,  the  Triassic  ; 
second,  the  Jurassic,  to  which  the  Oolitic  era 
belongs ;  and  third,  the  Cretaceous,  or  that  of 
the  chalk. 

3.  Cenozoic  time,  or  that  of  recent  life,  as  the  term 
signifies.  It  is  modern  in  the  aspect  of  its  species, 
compared  with  the  Mesozoic,  and  still  more  so 
compared  with  the  Paleozoic.  The  highest  and 
dominant  species  were  mammals. 

Then  came  the  creation  of  man  in  God's  image. 
These  geological  facts,  clearly  demonstrated  by  the 
earth's  crust,  irresistibly  lead  the  mind,  as  the 
calculations  of  astronomers  also  do,  to  dwell  upon 
infinity.  The  latter  proclaim  that  space  is  illimit- 
able j  the  former,  that  the  ages  man  can  count  are 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  85 

but  the  moments  of  eternity.  The  slowness  of  the 
formation  of  coral  islands  and  reefs  deserves  atten- 
tion, and  this  we  will  introduce  with  Dr.  Dana's 
explanations  of  the  formation  of  coral. 

'  Science,  while  it  penetrates  deeply  the  system 
of  things  about  us,  sees  everywhere,  in  the  dim 
limits  of  vision,  the  word  "  mystery."  Surely  there 
is  no  reason  why  the  simplest  of  organisms  should 
bear  the  impress  most  strongly.  If  we  are  as- 
tonished that  so  great  deeds  should  proceed  from 
the  little  and  low,  it  is  because  we  fail  to  appreciate 
that  little  things,  even  the  least  of  living  or 
physical  existences  in  nature,  are,  under  God,  ex- 
pressions throughout  of  comprehensive  laws,  laws 
that  govern  alike  the  small  and  the  great.  It  is 
not  more  surprising,  nor  a  matter  of  more  difficult 
comprehension,  that  a  polyp  should  form  structures 
of  stone  (carbonate  of  lime)  called  coral,  than  that 
the  quadruped  should  form  its  bones,  or  the 
mollusk  its  shell.  The  processes  are  similar,  and 
so  is  the  result.  In  each  case  it  is  a  simple  animal 
secretion — a  secretion  of  stony  matter  from  the  ali- 
ment which  the  animal  receives,  produced  by  the 
parts  of  the  animal  fitted  for  this  secreting  process ; 
and  in  each  case  carbonate  of  lime  is  a  constituent, 
or  one  of  the  constituents,  of  the  secretion.  This 
power  of  secretion  is,  then,  one  of  the  first  and 
most  common  of  those  that  belong  to  living  tissues  ; 
and  though  differing  in  different  organs  according 


86  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

to  their  end  or  function,  it  is  all  one  process,  both 
in  its  nature  and  cause,  whether  in  the  animalcule 
or  in  man.  It  belongs  eminently  to  the  lowest 
kinds  of  life.  These  are  the  best  stone-makers  ;  for 
in  their  simplicity  of  structure  they  may  be  almost 
all  stone,  and  still  carry  on  the  processes  of  nutri- 
tion and  growth.  Throughout  geological  time  they 
were  the  agents  appointed  to  produce  the  material 
of  limestones,  and  also  to  make  even  the  flint,  and 
many  of  the  siliceous  deposits  of  the  earth's  forma- 
tions. Coral  is  never,  therefore,  the  handiwork  of 
the  many-armed  polyps ;  for  it  is  no  more  a  result 
of  labour  than  bone-making  in  ourselves.  And, 
again,  it  is  not  a  collection  of  cells  into  which  the 
coral  animals  may  withdraw  for  concealment  any 
more  than  the  skeleton  of  a  dog  is  its  house  or 
cell ;  for  every  part  of  the  coral — or  corallum,  as  it 
is  now  called  in  science — of  a  polyp,  in  most  reef- 
making  species,  is  enclosed  within  the  polyp,  where 
it  was  formed  by  the  secreting  process. 

1  Coral  is  made  by  organisms  of  four  very  different 
kinds.  These  are:  i.  Polyps,  the  most  important 
of  coral-making  animals,  the  principal  source  of  the 
coral  reefs  of  the  world. 

1  2.  Animals  related  to  the  little  hydra  of  fresh 
waters,  and  called  Hydroids  (a  division  under  the 
Acalephs),  which  Agassiz  has  shown  form  the  very 
common  and  often  large  corals  called  millepores. 

1 3.  The  lowest  tribe  of  molluscs,  called  Bryozoans, 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  87 

which  produce  delicate  corals,  sometimes  branching 
and  moss-like  (whence  the  name,  from  the  Greek 
for  moss-animal),  and  at  other  times  in  broad 
plates,  thick  masses,  and  thin  incrustations.  Al- 
though of  small  importance  as  reef-makers  at  the 
present  time,  in  a  former  age  of  the  world — the 
Paleozoic — they  so  abounded  over  the  sea  bottom 
that  some  beds  of  limestone  are  half-composed  of 
them. 

'4.  Algae  or  sea-weeds,  some  kinds  of  which 
would  hardly  be  distinguished  from  corals,  except 
that  they  have  no  cells  or  pores.' 

'  A  good  idea  of  a  polyp  may  be  had  from  com- 
parison with  the  garden  aster ;  for  the  likeness  to 
many  of  them  in  external  form,  as  well  as  delicacy 
of  colouring,  is  singularly  close.  The  aster  consists 
of  a  tinted  disc  bordered  with  one  or  more  series 
of  petals.  And,  in  exact  analogy,  the  polyp-flower, 
in  its  most  common  form,  has  a  disc  fringed 
around  with  petal-like  organs  called  tentacles. 
Below  the  disc,  in  contrast  with  the  slender  pedicel 
in  the  ordinary  plant,  there  is  a  stout  cylindrical 
pedicel  or  body,  often  as  broad  as  the  disc  itself, 
and  sometimes  not  much  longer,  which  contains 
the  stomach  and  internal  cavity  of  the  polyp ;  and 
the  mouth,  which  opens  into  the  stomach,  is  at  the 
centre  of  the  disc.  Here  then  the  flower-animal 
and    the   garden-flower   diverge   in    character,  the 


88  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

difference  being  required  by  the  different  modes  of 
nutrition,  and  other  characteristics  in  the  two  king- 
doms of  Nature.  The  coral  polyp  is  as  much  an 
animal  as  a  cat  or  a  dog. 

'The  prominent  subdivisions  of  polyps  here 
recognised  are  : 

'  (i.)  Actinoid  Polyps.— Related  to  the  actinia,  or 
sea-anemone,  in  tentacles  and  interior  structure, 
and  having,  as  in  them,  the  number  of  tentacles 
and  interior  septa  a  multiple  of  six.  The  name 
Actinia  is  from  the  Greek  for  ray. 

'(ii.)  Cyathophylloid  Polyps.— -Like  the-  Acti- 
noids  in  tentacles  and  interior  structure,  except 
that  the  number  of  tentacles  and  interior  septa  is 
a  multiple  of  four. 

"  (iii.)  Alcyonoid  Polyps. — Having  eight  fringed 
tentacles,  and  other  characters  mentioned  beyond  ; 
as  the  Gorgoniae,  and  Alcyonia.' 

Beautiful  beyond  the  power  of  the  mind  to 
conceive,  or  of  words  to  describe,  are  these  creatures 
of  the  deep,  and  the  architecture  of  some  of  them 
surpasses  themselves  in  beauty.  With  bodies  of 
brilliant  colours  which,  in  some  species,  are  so 
transparent  that  the  organism  can  be  seen  through 
the  delicate  texture  of  the  outer  envelope,  they  live 
and  work  beneath  the  waters.  Nature's  economist 
here  puts  the  question,  Why  all  this  beauty,  when 
there  were  no  eyes  to  enjoy  it?  But  beauty  exists 
because,  •  In  the  beginning  ...  the  Spirit  of  God 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  89 

moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters  ;'  and  man  finds 
delight  therein,  inasmuch  as  he  bears  the  image  of 
his  Maker. 

'  The  Alcynoids,'  Dr.  Dana  says,  '  include 
some  of  the  gayest  and  most  delicate  of  coral 
shrubs.  iVlmost  all  are  flexible,  and  wave  with  the 
motion  of  the  water.  They  contribute  but  little  to 
the  material  of  coral  reefs,  but  add  largely  to  the 
beauties  of  the  coral  landscape.  Not  only  are  the 
polyps  of  handsome  tints,  but  the  whole  shrub  is 
usually  of  a  brilliant  orange,  yellow,  scarlet,  crimson, 
or  purple  shade.  Dun  colours  also  occur,  as  ash- 
gray,  and  dark  brown,  and  almost  black.  Some 
kinds,  the  Spongiadiae,  are  too  flexible  to  stand 
erect,  and  they  hang  from  the  coral  ledges,  or  in 
the  coral  caves,  in  gorgeous  clusters  of  scarlet, 
yellow,  and  crimson  colours. 

'  The  Actiniae  vary  immensely  in  size,  from  the 
eighth  of  an  inch  and  smaller  in  the  diameter  of  the 
disc  to  over  a  foot — though  commonly  between 
half  an  inch  and  three  inches.  One  species,  from 
the  Panmotu  Coral  Archipelago  in  the  Pacific,  had 
a  diameter  across  its  disc  of  fourteen  inches ;  and 
it  was  also  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  those  seas, 
having  multitudes  of  tentacles  with  carmine  tips  and 
yellowish  bases,  around  the  open  centre,  gathered 
into  a  number  of  large  groups  or  lobes. 

1  With  rare  exceptions,  Actiniae  live  attached  to 
stones,  shells,  or  the  sea  bottom,  or  are  buried  at 


90  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

the  base  in  the  sand  or  mud.  The  attached  species 
have  the  power  of  locomotion,  through  the  muscles 
of  the  base,  but  only  with  extreme  slowness. 
The  loose  stones  on  a  sea-shore  near  low-tide  level 
often  have  Actinia  fixed  to  their  under  surface.  A 
very  few  species  swim  or  float  at  large  in  the  ocean. 
These  polyps  have  also  the  faculty  of  reproducing 
lost  parts  ;  and  to  such  an  extent  that  a  mere  frag- 
ment, if  it  be  from  the  lower  part,  and  include  a 
portion  of  the  base,  will  reproduce  all  the  rest  of 
the  Actinia,  even  to  the  disc,  tentacles,  and  stomach. 
Thus  the  mere  forcible  tearing  of  an  Actinia  from 
the  rock  to  which  it  is  attached  may  result  in  starting 
a  crop  of  new  Actiniae. 

1  The  general  characters  of  the  coral-making 
Actinoid  Polyps  are  the  same  as  in  the  Actiniae. 
Their  more  striking  peculiarities  depend  on  the 
secretion  of  coral,  making  them  fixed  species,  and 
involving  an  absence  of  the  base  ;  and,  in  the  case 
of  the  majority  of  the  species,  on  the  extent  to 
which  they  multiply  by  buds,  in  imitation  of  species 
in  the  vegetable  kingdom.' 

The  extreme  beauty  and  variety  of  the  corallums 
of  these  polyps  are  known  to  all  who  study  the 
wonders  of  the  sea,  but  we  proceed  to  notice  the 
work  of  the  Cyathophylloid  Polyps.  In  it  we  find 
abundant  proof  of  the  truth  of  Professor  Sedgwick's 
words,  in  his  'Studies  of  Cambridge.'  'The 
geologist  counts  his  time,  not  by  celestial  cycles, 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  91 

but  by  an  index  he  has  found  in  the  solid  frame- 
work of  the  globe  itself.  He  sees  a  long  succession 
of  monuments,  each  of  which  may  have  required 
a  thousand  ages  for  its  elaboration.  He  arranges 
them  in  chronological  order,  observes  in  them  the 
marks  of  skill  and  wisdom,  and  finds  within  them 
the  tombs  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  earth.' 

St.  John  wrote — '  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word, 
and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was 
God.  The  same  was  in  the  beginning  with  God. 
All  things  were  made  by  Him,  and  without  Him  was 
not  anything  made  that  was  made.  In  Him  was  life  ; 
and  the  life  was  the  light  of  man.'  God  is  life,  and 
life,  without  which  there  could  be  no  inanimate 
matter,  is  God.  The  work  of  the  coral  insect 
teaches  us  this  great  truth ;  and  man  would  do 
well  to  study  Nature  more  than  he  does,  and  learn 
more  from  her  teaching.  The  limestone  rocks  of 
past  ages  were  reared  by  the  secretions  of  living 
polyps  ;  and  what  mighty  monuments  they  are  of 
the  Great  Sacrament,  God  in  Nature  !  The  polyps 
are  '  the  best  stone-makers.'  They  are  the  agents 
appointed  by  their  Creator  to  produce  the  material 
of  limestone ;  and  the  results  of  their  working  in 
perfect  obedience  to  law  are  truly  surprising.  But 
man  is  the  agent  appointed  to  be  lord  of  creation, 
to  work  consciously  for  the  glory  of  his  God ;  to 
train  himself  for  the  higher  life  to  which  he  is 
destined ;  and   to   raise   on   earth  '  living  stones, 


92  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

which  are  to  be  set  in  the  eternal  Temple  of  Truth. 
When  we  realize  what  man  was  when  created ;  what 
he  ought  to  be,  nay,  what  he  is,  notwithstanding  the 
degradations  of  sin  ;  and  when  we  look  around  upon 
the  failure  of  man  to  reach  his  best,  we  almost 
reverence  the  little  coral  insect  for  its  perfect  fulfil- 
ment of  its  appointed  work.  We  see,  in  the  great 
antiquity  of  the  coral  world,  in  the  continuity  of  the 
work  of  these  builders,  and  in  the  strength  and 
beauty  of  their  work,  one  of  the  grandest,  and,  in 
its  details,  one  of  the  most  suggestive  illustrations 
of  the  way  in  which  Divine  Power  can  work  by  the 
lowliest  means  which  the  material  world  affords. 

We  must  go  over  the  entire  Pacific  Ocean  if  we 
would  form  an  adequate  idea  of  the  extent  of  the 
work  of  the  polyps,  for  the  reef- builders  prefer 
warmer  waters  than  those  which  surround  the 
British  Isles.  'An  isothermal  line  crossing  the 
ocean  where  the  waters  through  the  coldest  winter 
month  have  a  mean  temperature  not  below  68°  F., 
one  north  of  the  equator,  and  another  south, 
bending  in  its  course  towards  or  from  the  equator 
wherever  the  marine  currents  change  its  position, 
will  include  all  the  growing  reefs  in  the  world  ;  and 
this  area  of  waters  may  be  properly  called  the  coral- 
reef  seas. 

'  Through  the  torridregion,  where  the  temperature 
of  the  surface  is  never  below  740  F.  for  any  month 
of  the  year,  all  the  prominent  genera  of  reef-forming 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT-GOD  IN  NATURE  93 

species  are  abundantly  represented.  The  Feegee 
seas  afford  magnificent  examples  of  torrid-region 
productions. 

'The  rate  of  growth  of  coral  is  a  subject  but 
little  understood.  We  do  not  refer  here  to  the 
progress  of  a  reef  in  formation,  which  is  another 
question  complicated  by  many  co-operative  causes ; 
but  simply  to  the  rapidity  with  which  particular 
living  species  increase  in  size.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  the  rate  is  different  for  different  species.  It  is 
moreover  probable  that  it  corresponds  with  the  rate 
of  growth  of  other  allied  polyps  that  do  not  secrete 
lime.  The  rate  of  growth  of  Actiniae  might  give  us 
an  approximation  to  the  rate  of  growth  in  coral 
animals  of  like  size  and  general  character ;  for  the 
additional  function  of  secreting  lime  would  not 
necessarily  retard  the  maturing  of  the  polyp ;  and 
from  the  rate  of  growth  of  the  same  animals  in  the 
young  state,  we  might  perhaps  draw  some  inferences 
as  to  the  rate  in  polyps  of  corresponding  size.  But 
no  satisfactory  observations  on  this  point  have  yet 
been  made.'* 

After  enumerating  many  distinct  causes  affecting 
in  greater  or  lesser  degree  the  growth  of  coral,  and 
giving  interesting  details  of  careful  observations 
which  from  time  to  time  have  been  made,  Dr. 
Dana  remarks  :  '  Whatever  the  uncertainties,  it  is 

*  Dr.  Dana  published  the  second  edition  of  his  work  on 
'Corals'  in  1875. 


94  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

evident  that  a  reef  increases  in  height  or  extent  with 
extreme  slowness.  If  the  rate  of  upward  progress 
is  one-sixteenth  of  an  inch  a  year,  it  would  take  for 
the  addition  of  a  single  foot  to  its  height  one 
hundred  and  ninety  years,  and  for  five  feet  a 
thousand  years.  Coral  reefs  and  coral  islands  are 
structures  of  the  same  kind  under  somewhat  different 
conditions.  They  are  made  in  the  same  sea,  by 
the  same  means  ;  in  fact,  a  coral  island  has  in  all 
cases  been  a  coral  reef  through  a  large  part  of  its 
history,  and  is  so  still  over  much  of  its  area.  The 
terms,  however,  are  not  synonymous.  Coral  Islands 
are  reefs  that  stand  isolated  in  the  ocean,  away 
from  other  lands,  whether  now  only  raised  to  the 
water's  edge  and  half  submerged,  or  covered  with 
vegetation;  while  the  term  coral  reefs,  although 
used  for  reefs  of  coral  in  general,  is  more  especially 
applied  to  those  which  occur  along  the  shores  of 
high  islands  and  continents. 

'  Coral  reefs  are  banks  of  coral  rock  built  upon 
the  sea  bottom  about  the  shores  of  tropical  lands. 
In  the  Pacific  these  lands,  with  the  exception  of 
New  Caledonia  and  others  of  large  size  to  the  west- 
ward, are  islands  of  volcanic  or  igneous  rocks,  and 
they  often  rise  to  mountain  heights.  The  coral 
reefs  which  skirt  their  shores  are  ordinarily  wholly 
submerged  at  high  tide  ;  but  at  the  ebb  they  com- 
monly present  to  view  a  broad,  flat,  bare  surface  of 
rock,    just   above   the    water-level,    strongly   con- 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  95 

trasting   with  the  steep   slopes   of  the   encircling 
island. 

'Could  we  raise  one  of  these  coral-bound  islands 
from  the  waves,  we  should  find  that  the  reefs  stand 
upon  the  submarine  slopes,  like  massive  structures  of 
artificial  masonry ;  some  forming  a  broad,  flat  plat- 
form or  shelf  ranging  around  the  land,  and  others 
encircling  it  like  vast  ramparts,  perhaps  a  hundred 
miles  or  more  in  circuit.  The  reefs  that  were  near 
the  water-line  of  the  coast  would  be  seen  to  have 
stood  in  the  shallowest  water,  while  the  outer  ram- 
parts rested  on  the  more  deeply-submerged  slopes. 
It  is  obvious  that  with  a  given  slope  to  the  declivity 
of  the  land,  the  thickness  of  the  reef  resting  upon 
it  may  be  directly  determined,  as  it  would  be  twice 
as  great  two  hundred  feet  from  the  shore  as  at  one 
hundred  feet.  The  only  difficulty,  therefore,  in 
correctly  determining  the  depth  or  thickness  of  any 
given  reef  arises  from  the  uncertainty  with  regard 
to  the  submarine  slope  of  the  land.  It  is,  how- 
ever, admitted,  as  the  result  of  extensive  observa- 
tion, that  in  general  these  slopes  correspond  nearly 
with  those  of  the  land  above  water.  Mr.  Darwin 
has  thus  estimated  the  thickness  of  the  reefs  of  the 
Gambier  groups  and  some  other  Pacific  islands, 
and  he  arrives  at  the  conclusion,  as  his  figures  in- 
dicate, that  some  coral  reefs  at  their  outer  limits 
are  at  least  two  thousand  feet  in  thickness. 

'  Coral  islands  resemble  the  reefs,  except  that  a 


96  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

lake  or  lagoon  is  encircled  instead  of  a  mountain- 
ous island.  A  narrow  rim  of  coral  reef,  generally 
but  a  few  hundred  yards  wide,  stretches  around  the 
enclosed  waters.  In  some  parts  the  reef  is  so  low 
that  the  waves  are  still  dashing  over  it  into  the 
lagoon  ;  in  others  it  is  verdant  with  the  rich  foliage 
of  the  tropics.  When  first  seen  from  the  deck  of 
a  vessel,  only  a  series  of  dark  points  is  descried 
just  above  the  horizon.  Shortly  after  the  points 
enlarge  into  the  plumed  tops  of  cocoa-nut  trees, 
and  a  line  of  green,  interrupted  at  intervals,  is 
traced  along  the  water's  surface.  Approaching 
still  nearer,  the  lake  and  its  belt  of  verdure  are 
spread  out  before  the  eye,  and  a  scene  of  more 
interest  can  scarcely  be  imagined.  The  surf,  beat- 
ing loud  and  heavy  along  the  margin  of  the  reef, 
presents  a  strange  contrast  to  the  prospect  beyond — 
the  white  coral  beach,  the  massy  foliage  of  the  grove, 
and  the  embosomed  lake  with  its  tiny  islets.  The 
colour  of  the  lagoon  water  is  often  as  blue  as  the 
ocean,  although  but  ten  or  twenty  fathoms  deep  ; 
yet  shades  of  green  and  yellow  are  intermingled, 
where  patches  of  sand  or  coral-knolls  are  near  the 
surface ;  and  the  green  is  a  delicate  apple  shade, 
quite  unlike  the  ordinary  muddy  tint  of  shallow 
waters. 

1  The  belt  of  verdure,  though  sometimes  con- 
tinuous around  the  lagoon,  is  usually  broken  into 
islets  separated  by  varying  intervals  of  bare  reef ; 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  97 

and  through  one  or  more  of  these  intervals  a  ship- 
channel  often  exists,  opening  into  the  lagoon.  The 
larger  coral  islands  are  thus  a  string  of  islets  along 
a  line  of  reef.  These  lagoon  islands  are  called 
atolls,  a  word  of  Maldive  origin.  In  the  larger 
atolls  the  waters  within  look  like  the  ocean,  and  are 
similarly  roughened  by  the  wind,  though  not  to  the 
same  extent.  The  lagoon  is  in  fact  but  a  frag- 
ment of  the  ocean  cut  off  by  more  or  less  perfect 
walls  of  coral  reef-rock ;  and  the  reef  is  here  and 
there  surmounted  by  verdure,  forming  a  series  of 
islets.' 

What  are  man's  mightiest  breakwaters  compared 
with  these  coral  reefs  ?  Man,  when  building  up 
his  sea  walls,  has  to  wait  for  the  ebb  of  the  tide  ; 
and  he  has  to  protect  himself  in  every  possible  way 
that  skill  and  forethought  can  devise  against  the 
power  of  the  unseen  forces  which  are  ever  in 
motion.  The  polyps  build  their  walls  amid  the 
waves  of  an  ocean  that  is  never  at  rest.  Through 
long  ages  they  toil  on  unseen  until  their  work 
appears  above  the  waters,  and  then  those  agents 
of  Almighty  power,  the  winds  and  the  waves, 
deposit  atoms  of  organic  matter  upon  the  upraised 
coral,  and  living  things  of  grace  and  beauty  spring 
up  and  grow  beneath  the  skies  of  a  tropical  clime, 
and  crown  the  work  of  the  polyp  with  the  green 
things  of  an  earth  on  which  the  sunlight  rests  as 
a  gloria,  and  warms  and  cherishes  them  until  at 

7 


98  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

last  man  comes  and  dwells  beneath  their  shadow. 
These  wonders  of  creation,  ever  growing  and  un- 
folding new  beauties  through  the  energy  breathed 
into  them  by  the  Author  of  Life,  are  sufficient  in 
themselves  to  prove  to  man  that  he,  while  on  earth, 
is  in  his  infancy.     This  planet  is,  first,  his  cradle  ; 
then  his  school,   where  he  learns  to  read  and  to 
think ;  and  his  elementary  lessons,  if  well-learned, 
enable  him  to  do  much  for  the  good  of  his  own 
and  of  succeeding  generations,  both  from  a  material 
and  social,  and  also  from  a  scientific  and  ethical 
point  of  view.    He  builds  cities,  temples  and  palaces, 
which  stand  for  centuries;  but  they  crumble  be- 
neath the  ravages  of  time,  and  become  ruins.     As 
ruins — time-worn    and     moss-grown — they    stand 
through    many   succeeding  centuries,    often    more 
beautiful  than  in  their  palmiest  days,   when  they 
were  as  perfect  as  man  could  make  them.     But 
they  crumble  into  dust  at  last.     The  natural  man, 
however,  closes  his  eyes  alike  to  the  teaching  of 
Nature  and  to  the  results  of  his  own  labour,  and 
so  fails  to  learn  the  lesson  that  all  around  him  is 
ceaselessly  proclaiming — viz.,  that  material  things 
in  their  present  condition  were  created  only  for 
time,  but  were  set  in  perfect  adaptation  to  the  place 
they  had  to  occupy ;    while    man   was    made  for 
eternity,  and  therefore,  all  his  real  greatness  is  to  be 
found  in  another  sphere— the  sphere  of  the  '  super- 
natural.' 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  99 

The  completed  atoll  is  thus  described  by  Dr. 
Dana  :  '  The  atoll,  a  quiet  scene  of  grove  and 
lake,  is  admirably  set  off  by  the  contrasting  ocean. 
Its  placid  beauty  rises  to  grandeur  when  the  storm 
rages,  and  the  waves  foam  and  roar  about  the  outer 
reefs  ;  for  the  child  of  the  sea  still  rests  quietly  in 
unheeding  and  dreamy  content.  This  coral-made 
land  is  firm,  because  it  is  literally  sea-born,  it  having 
been  built  out  of  sea-products  by  the  aid  of  the 
working  ocean.  And  so  with  the  groves  :  they  were 
planted  by  the  waves,  and  hence  the  species  are 
those  that  can  defy  the  encroaching  waters,  and 
meet  the  various  conditions  in  which  they  are  placed. 
The  plants,  therefore,  take  firm  hold  of  the  soil, 
and  grow  in  all  their  natural  strength  and  beauty. 
Only  an  occasional  coral  island  has  a  completely 
encircling  grove,  and  is  hence  a  model  atoll.  But 
the  many  in  which  a  series  of  green  islets  surround 
the  lagoon  are  often  but  little  less  attractive, 
especially  when  the  several  islets  present  varied 
groupings  of  palms  and  other  foliage.' 

The  torrid  zone  has  been  well-called  a  '  coral 
zone.'  It  is  as  a  jewelled  belt  encircling  the  earth  ; 
for  many  of  its  coral  islands  are  gems  of  rare  beauty. 
We  have  glanced  at  their  surface  ;  their  base  lies 
many  fathoms  deep.  It  is  well  known  that  the  bed 
of  the  vast  Pacific  Ocean  testifies  to  periods  of 
elevation  and  subsidence  of  the  earth's  crust  in 
remote  epochs,  and  of  volcanic  action  on  a  gigantic 


ioo  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

scale.  It  was  when  the  subterranean  forces  had 
exhausted  their  strength,  and  the  fires  of  the  volcanic 
peaks  and  mountains  had  become  extinct,  that  a 
gradual  subsidence  caused  the  mountains  to  dis- 
appear below  the  waters,  and  then  the  polyps 
began  to  build  their  coral  structures.  Age  after 
age,  as  the  slowly  progressing  subsidence  went  on, 
countless  generations  continued  the  work,  which 
in  later  days  was  to  rise  above  the  waters,  and  pro- 
claim by  its  beauty  and  its  power  of  resistance 
to  the  stormiest  waves,  '  The  Hand  that  made  us 
is  Divine.'  Dr.  Dana  gives  an  account  of  the  geo- 
graphical distribution  of  islands  and  reefs  ;  of  the 
changes  in  levels  in  coral  regions,  and  of  the  sub- 
sidence in  Pacific  coral  regions  ;  and  thus  sums  up 
this  interesting  part  of  his  subject. 

1  The  facts  surveyed  give  us  a  long  insight  into 
the  past,  and  exhibit  to  us  the  Pacific  once  scattered 
over  with  lofty  lands,  where  now  there  are  only 
humble  monumental  atolls.  Had  there  been  no 
growing  coral,  the  whole  would  have  passed  with- 
out a  record.  These  permanent  registers  exhibit 
in  enduring  characters  some  of  the  oscillations  which 
the  "  stable"  earth  has  since  undergone. 

*  From  the  actual  size  of  the  coral  reefs  and 
islands,  we  know  that  the  whole  amount  of  high 
land  lost  to  the  Pacific  by  the  subsidence  was  at 
the  very  least  fifty  thousand  square  miles.  But 
since  atolls  are  necessarily  smaller  than  the  land 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  101 

they  cover,  and  the  more  so  the  further  subsidence 
has  proceeded ;  since  many  lands,  owing  to  their 
abrupt  shores  or  to  volcanic  agency,  must  have  had 
no  reefs  about  them  and  have  disappeared  without 
a  mark ;  and  since  others  may  have  subsided  too 
rapidly  for  the  corals  to  retain  themselves  at  the 
surface,  it  is  obvious  that  this  estimate  is  far  below 
the  truth.  It  is  apparent  that  in  many  cases  islands 
now  disjoined  have  been  once  connected,  and  thus 
several  atolls  may  have  been  made  about  the  heights 
of  a  subsiding  land  of  large  size.  Such  facts  show 
additional  errors  in  the  above  estimate,  evincing  that 
the  scattered  atolls  and  reefs  tell  but  a  small  part 
of  the  story.' 

The  foregoing  notes  of  what  has  been  gathered 
from  a  few  pages  of  the  '  Book  of  Nature  '  are  but 
illustrative.  A  student  must  search  the  deeps,  and 
soar  into  the  heights,  if  he  would  read  Nature's 
records  aright.  Science  sincerely  studied  can  never 
lead  him  astray,  for  the  facts  it  reveals  are  but  the 
material  manifestations  of  the  will  of  the  Divine 
Maker.  Theories  that  are  based  only  upon  what 
some  man  or  men  have  observed  may  lead  some 
scientific  men  to  lose  sight  of  God.  But  when  they 
have  moved  into  the  shadow  of  a  cloud  that 
obscures  the  sun,  what  is  there  to  take  the  place 
of  that  guiding  Light  which  they  have  lost  ?  Only 
the  ignis  fatuus  that  is  kindled  by  their  own  limited 


102  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

knowledge  of  created  things.  That  very  knowledge, 
moreover,  has  been  acquired  by  an  ability  which 
man  alone  of  all  earth-born  creatures  possesses  ;  by 
a  power  which,  if  not  given  to  him  by  the  Creator, 
man  cannot  account  for  or  explain ;  a  power  which 
is  far  above  the  laws  which  govern  Nature,  for  it 
enables  man  to  understand  those  laws,  and  even, 
to  a  great  extent,  to  make  them  subservient  to  his 
will.  Yet  he  rejects  the  Lawmaker,  and  follows  his 
reason  while  denying  the  Giver  of  reason.  But 
do  what  he  will  theoretically,  man  cannot  get  rid  of 
two  stern  facts  which  are  always  confronting  him : 
(i)  The  present  life  of  man  with  all  its  concomi- 
tants ;  with  its  involuntary  commencement,  and 
its  certain  ending.  (2)  Consequent  upon  this  fact, 
the  purposelessness  of  man's  life,  if  there  be  nothing 
beyond  the  shore  of  time — nothing  but  this  ma- 
terial world.  '  Ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust,'  is  the 
motto  inscribed  by  the  finger  of  God  upon  all  that 
does  not  possess  life — the  life  that  knows  no  end- 
ing, because  it  is  the  breath  of  Him  who  is  the 
fountain  of  life.  'Thou,  Lord,  in  the  beginning 
hath  laid  the  foundation  of  the  earth ;  and  the 
heavens  are  the  work  of  Thine  hands.  They  shall 
perish,  but  Thou  remainest ;  and  they  all  shall  wax 
old  as  doth  a  garment;  and  as  a  vesture  shalt 
Thou  fold  them  up,  and  they  shall  be  changed : 
but  Thou  art  the  same,  and  Thy  years  shall  not 
fail.' 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  103 

Those  who  see  in  the  fresh  discoveries  which 
science  is  ever  making,  further  illustrations  of  the 
working  of  definite  laws — which  are  in  reality  the 
agents  of  the  active  will  and  purposes  of  a  higher 
Power — will  see  also  in  each  new  discovery  an 
additional  proof  of  the  necessary  existence  of  one 
Supreme  Ruler,  who  must  be  all-wise  and  all- 
powerful.  Moreover,  those  who  have  the  strongest 
faith  in  God,  the  firmest  grasp  of  his  Almighty 
Hand,  the  deepest  love  for  Him,  not  so  much  for 
what  He  has  done  for  them,  or  in  view  of  his 
glorious  works,  as  for  what  He  is  in  Himself,  have 
the  clearest  perception  of  the  fact,  that  all  creation 
has  been  brought  into  existence  and  is  sustained 
by  One  like  unto  themselves.  With  this  difference, 
however, — the  One  is  the  central  Sun  of  the 
Universe,  and  man  but  a  ray  of  light  emanating 
from  the  Sun. 

One  like  unto  themselves  !  Even  so,  because, 
although  God  is  on  His  throne  in  the  highest 
heaven,  and  man,  at  present,  is  leaning  on  His 
footstool,  man  can  see  more  clearly  day  by  day,  in 
the  material  world  and  in  the  spiritual  part  of  his 
own  being,  evidences  of  design ;  evidences  of 
direction  and  control ;  evidences  of  fitness,  corres- 
pondence, and  harmony ;  evidences  of  adaptation 
and  co-operation.  And  when  man  was  made  in 
the  image  of  God,  the  attributes  of  God  were 
bestowed  upon  him  in  such  measure  as  the  Father, 


104  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

in  His  infinite  wisdom,  saw  was  best ;  but  the 
measure  is  to  be  increased  until  they  shall  '  come 
into  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the 
measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ.' 

Such  is  man,  and  such  is  his  destiny.  If  he  were 
less  than  he  is,  he  could  not  be  the  image  of  God  ; 
if  his  destiny  were  less  exalted,  he  could  not  be 
one  with  the  Son,  and  his  body  could  not  be  the 
temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost :  nor,  unless  he  were  all 
this,  could  he  understand,  even  in  part,  and  use  to 
effect  his  own  purpose,  the  laws  which  govern  the 
seen  and  unseen  universe.  It  is  the  union  of 
matter  and  spirit,  life  connecting  created  things — 
in  short,  God  incorporated  in  His  works,  which 
establishes  what  science  will  doubtless  one  day 
proclaim  to  be  a  scientific  fact,  namely,  that  the 
same  laws  govern  the  seen  and  the  unseen.  There- 
fore arises  the  value  of  ail  true  knowledge  acquired 
by  man  in  the  region  of  creation.  All  of  truth  that 
he  gathers  and  lays  by  in  store,  is  but  the  founda- 
tion on  which  he  will  build  in  the  next  stage  of  his 
existence  ;  and  when  man  is  set  free  from  his  mortal 
environment  he  will  find  that  all  he  has  gathered 
here  is  his  own  for  ever ;  and  that  he  is  working 
still  on  the  old  principles  which  have  reached  a 
higher  sphere  of  operation  ;  that  the  same  laws  were 
in  force  under  altered  conditions,  and  that  he  is 
just  as  much  his  same  old  self  as  when  his  body 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  105 

kept  him  in  the  lower  sphere.  So  our  most  blessed 
Lord  taught  us,  when  He  said  to  the  penitent  thief, 
1  To-day  thou  shalt  be  with  Me  in  Paradise  ;'  and 
afterwards,  to  His  terrified  disciples — who,  when 
their  eyes  were  opened  so  that  they  could  discern 
what  we  call  spiritual  existences,  saw  Jesus  standing 
in  the  midst  of  them,  and  were  'affrighted,  and 
supposed  that  they  had  seen  a  spirit ' — '  Why  are  ye 
troubled?  and  why  do  thoughts  arise  in  your  hearts  ? 
Behold  My  hands  and  My  feet,  that  it  is  Myself ; 
handle  me,  and  see  ;  for  a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and 
bones,  as  ye  see  Me  have.' 

Does  he  who  believes  that  the  holy  Scriptures 
contain  a  revelation  from  God  to  man,  and  at  the 
same  time  disbelieves  and  ridicules  all  that  is 
commonly  called  '  supernatural/  ever  bring  reason 
to  bear  upon  the  fact  that  the  words  recorded 
were  uttered  by  superhuman  lips  ?  He  who  spoke 
them  had  passed  through  closed  doors,  yet  He  was 
none  the  less  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  The  disciples 
were  not  endowed  with  new  senses  in  order  to 
enable  them  to  see  what,  a  moment  before,  was  to 
them  invisible;  to  handle  and  feel  what  was 
intangible :  but  their  senses  became  capable  of 
discerning  things  not  within  range  of  their  ordinary 
power  of  sight  and  touch.  That  was  all.  No  law 
was  broken,  no  new  one  made.  That  which  man 
calls  miraculous  will  perhaps,  hereafter,  be  scienti- 
fically proved  to  be  neither  more  nor  less  than 


106  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

evidence  of  the  development,  or  unfolding,  of  the 
esoteric  working  of  Almighty  power.  We  have 
spoken  of  the  senses  of  sight  and  touch  ;  but  there 
was  yet  another  evidence  which  the  risen  Lord 
vouchsafed — that  afforded  by  the  sense  of  hearing, 
proving  that  it  was  He  Himself,  and  not  another, 
who  was  still  among  those  who  sought  for  Him 
and  loved  Him.  The  familiar  voice,  pronouncing 
the  one  word,  *  Mary,'  drew  forth  the  exultant  cry 
of  '  Rabboni  !' 

A  talented  lecturer,  eminent  for  his  scientific 
attainments,  has  given  a  description  of  the  common 
1  nettle,'  as  it  appears  when  seen  through  a  powerful 
microscope,  and  after  stating  that  within  its  tiny 
hairs  currents  of  a  limpid  liquid,  containing 
innumerable  and  exceedingly  minute  granules, 
might  be  seen  in  a  state  of  ceaseless  activity, 
coursing  swiftly  in  opposite  directions  within  the 
twenty-thousandth  part  of  an  inch  of  one  another, 
he  remarks,  '  Currents  similar  to  those  of  the  hairs 
of  the  nettle  have  been  observed  in  a  great  multi- 
tude of  different  plants,  and  weighty  authorities 
have  suggested  that  they- probably  occur  in  more 
or  less  perfection  in  all  young  vegetable  cells.  If 
such  be  the  case  the  wonderful  noonday  silence  of 
a  tropical  forest  is,  after  all,  due  only  to  the  dulness 
of  our  hearing,  and  could  our  ears  catch  the 
murmur  of  these  tiny  maelstroms  as  they  whirl  in 
innumerable  myriads  of  living  cells  which  constitute 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  IN  NATURE  107 

each  tree,  we  should  be  stunned  as  with  the  roar  of 
a  great  city.' 

Here  again,  in  the  silent  solitude  of  a  great 
forest,  man,  by  the  power  of  his  own  intellect,  is 
convicted  of  incompleteness ;  the  partially  developed 
state  of  his  senses  is  brought  home  to  him ;  the 
mystery  of  life  is  manifest  in  that  part  of  the  '  Great 
Sacrament '  which  is  encircling  him.  He  sees  that 
all  the  beauties  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  are  the 
result  of  obedience  to  law.  The  continuous  work- 
ing of  law  caused  the  trees  to  grow,  and  year  by 
year  it  encircles  their  giant  trunks  with  rings  which 
enable  men  to  tell  their  age  :  but  what  gave  law  its 
potent  energy  ?  Who  framed  it  to  give  strength  to 
the  tree,  whiteness  to  the  lily,  perfume  to  the  rose, 
and  to  the  lowly  harebell  its  slender  stem  ?  No 
other  than  He  who  said,  '  Consider  the  lilies  of  the 
field,  how  they  grow  ;  they  toil  not,  neither  do  they 
spin  :  and  yet  I  say  unto  you,  that  even  Solomon 
in  all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed  like  one  of  these. 
Wherefore,  if  God  so  clothe  the  grass  of  the  field, 
which  to-day  is,  and  to-morrow  is  cast  into  the  oven, 
shall  He  not  much  more  clothe  you,  O  ye  of  little 
faith  ?' 

The  lily,  growing  in  obedience  to  law,  ever 
remains  perfect,  as  when  first  fashioned  by  the 
Divine  mind.  Man,  through  disobedience  to  law, 
has  lost  his  perfection,  and  Solomon's  outward 
splendour,  fashioned  by  men,  cannot  compare  with 


io8  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

that  of  the  lily  of  the  field.     Nevertheless,  what 
saith  the  Lord  ?     '  Fear  not ;  for  thou  shalt  not  be 
ashamed :  neither  be  thou  confounded ;  for  thou 
shalt  not  be  put  to  shame  :  for  thou  shalt  forget 
the  shame  of  thy  youth,  and  shalt  not  remember 
the  reproach  of  thy  widowhood  any  more.     For 
thy  Maker  is  thine  husband  ;  the  Lord  of  Hosts  is 
His  name;  and  thy  Redeemer  the  Holy  One  of 
Israel ;  the  God  of  the  whole  earth  shall  He  be 
called.     For  the  Lord  hath  called  thee  as  a  woman 
forsaken  and  grieved  in  spirit,  and  a  wife  of  youth, 
when  thou  wast  refused,  saith  thy  God.    For  a  small 
moment  have  I  forsaken  thee;  but  with  great  mercies 
will  I  gather  thee.     In  a  little  wrath  I  hid  My  face 
from  thee  for  a  moment ;  but  with  everlasting  kind- 
ness will  I  have  mercy  on  thee,  saith  the  Lord  thy 
Redeemer.'     '  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled :  ye 
believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  Me.     In  My  Father's 
house  are  many  mansions  :  if  it  were  not  so,  I  would 
have  told  you.  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you.  And 
if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  will  come 
again,  and  receive  you  unto  Myself ;  that  where  I 
am,  there  ye  may  be  also.'     '  If  ye  love  Me,  keep 
My    commandments.     He    that  \  loveth    Me    not 
keepeth  not  My  sayings.'     '  I  will  pray  the  Father, 
and  He  shall  give  you  another  Comforter,  that  He 
may  abide  with  you  for  ever ;  even  the  Spirit  of 
Truth,  whom    the  world  cannot  receive,  because 
it  seeth  Him  not,  neither  knoweth  Him :  but  ye 


THE  GREAT  SACRAMENT— GOD  JN  NATURE  109 

know  Him ;  for  He  dwelleth  with  you,  and  shall 
be  in  you.' 

'  He  shall  be  in  you  !'  Working  in  the  ethical 
world,  invisible,  except  in  results.  Logically,  cause 
must  precede  effect.  This  is  an  axiom  which  no 
man  can  gainsay ;  and  man,  having  fallen  by  an 
act  of  disobedience  to  law,  has  to  be  restored  to 
the  image  of  God  by  being  brought  into  obedience 
to  law,  the  law  of  ethics.  Why  then  does  man 
turn  a  deaf  ear  to  his  Father's  voice  in  Revelation, 
and  refuse  to  recognise  that  Father's  hand  in 
creation?  'Because,' he  virtually  replies,  'I  can- 
not see  the  necessity  for  anything  higher  than  law, 
and  I  will  not  believe  in  anything  of  the  existence 
of  which  there  is  no  incontestable  demonstration. 
When  we  have  solved  a  few  more  difficult  problems, 
and  have  improved  our  instruments,  we  shall  know 
more,  and  we  shall  have  acquired  greater  power  to 
pursue  our  investigations,  one  result  of  which  will 
be  that  we  shall  be  enabled  to  make  more  use  of 
the  laws  about  which  we  already  know  so  much.' 
Quite  true;  but,  all  the  same,  it  is  the  story  of 
Eden  repeated  through  the  ages  ;  the  story  of  dis- 
obedience to  law,  and  of  self-exaltation.  Let  a 
man  once  realize  that  he  is  made  in  the  image  of 
God,  destined  to  live  with  God,  and  to  work  with 
Him,  and  then  the  pride  of  man  dies  a  natural 
death  ;  for,  knowing  what  he  is  by  the  will  of  his 
Maker,  while  glorying,  as  he  must  do,  in  his  un- 


no  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

speakable  greatness,  he  will  feel  that  he  owes  all  to 
the  God  who  made  him,  and  breathed  into  him 
the  breath  of  life :  that  Triune  God  who  is  his 
Creator,  Redeemer,  and  Sanctifier. 

The  world  is  very  evil,  and  '  strait  is  the  gate, 
and  narrow  is  the  way  that  leadeth  unto  life,  and 
few  there  be  that  find  it' 

'  Therefore,  though  few  may  praise,  or  help,  or  heed  us, 

Let  us  work  on  with  head,  or  heart,  or  hand  ; 
For  that  we  know  the  future  ages  need  us, 
And  we  must  help  our  time  to  take  its  stand. 

'  Each  single  struggle  hath  its  far  vibration, 

Working  results  that  work  results  again  ; 
Failure  and  death  are  no  annihilation, 

Our  tears  exhaled  will  make  some  future  rain.'* 

*  R.  A.  Vaushan. 


CHAPTER  III, 

THE   GREAT    PROCESSION.* 

In  the  '  Great  Sacrament '  God  is  discerned  in  the 
material  world.  In  the  '  Great  Procession  '  He  is 
manifested  in  the  spiritual  world.  '  For,'  as  St. 
Paul  says,  '  the  invisible  things  of  Him  from  thw 
creation  of  the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being  under- 
stood by  the  things  that  are  made,  even  His  eternal 
power  and  Godhead.' 

The  story  of  the  creation  of  the  material  world 
has  been  told  by  men  whose  minds  were  Divinely 
illuminated.  '  In  the  beginning  God  created  the 
heaven  and  the  earth.     And  the  earth  was  without 

*  As  so  many  passages  from  Holy  Scripture  are  given  in 
full  at  the  commencement  of  this  chapter,  it  seems  desirable 
to  state  the  reasons  for  this  arrangement :  (i)  They  are  the 
strong  foundation  on  which  students  of  the  '  Book  of  Nature ' 
build  the  temple  of  truth,  and  learn  the  lesson  that  faith 
and  science  uphold  each  other,  and  are  strong  only  in  their 
union.  (2)  Many  readers  do  not  take  the  trouble  to  refer  to 
texts  when  they  are  only  indicated  by  figures.  The  Bible 
may  not  be  at  hand,  or  the  time  for  reading  may  be  limited, 
so  that  a  study  of  the  '  foundation '  may  be  postponed  until  a 
more  convenient  season,  which  oftentimes  never  comes. 


U2  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

form  and  void  ;  and  darkness  was  upon  the  face  of 
the  deep :  and  the  Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  face 
of  the  waters.  And  God  said,  Let  there  be  light : 
and  there  was  light.  And  God  saw  the  light,  that 
it  was  good  :  and  God  divided  the  light  from  the 
darkness.  And  God  called  the  light  day,  and  the 
darkness  He  called  night.'  This  wonderful  '  light ' 
seems  to  have  been  the  first  glorious  Epiphany, 
the  Alpha  that  was  to  light,  not  the  material  world 
only,  but  also  every  man  that  cometh  into  the 
world ;  for,  in  later  time,  St.  John  wrote,  *  In  the 
beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with 
God,  and  the  Word  was  God.  The  same  was  in 
the  beginning  with  God  :  all  things  were  made  by 
Him  ;  and  without  Him  was  not  anything  made 
that  was  made.  In  Him  was  life,  and  the  life  was 
the  light  of  men.  And  the  light  shineth  in  dark- 
ness, and  the  darkness  comprehended  it  not.'  When, 
according  to  the  command  of  God,  c  Moses 
stretched  forth  his  hand  toward  heaven,  there  was 
a  thick  darkness  in  all  the  land  of  Egypt  three 
days,  so  that  the  Egyptians  saw  not  one  another, 
neither  rose  any  from  his  place  for  three  days,  but 
the  children  of  Israel  had  light  in  their  dwellings.' 
And  those  who  can  receive  Holy  Scripture  as  the 
'  Word  of  God ' — knowing  that  '  no  prophecy  of  the 
Scripture  is  of  any  private  interpretation ;  for  that 
prophecy  came  not  in  the  old  time  by  the  will  of 
man,   but  holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  113 

moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost ' — see  in  this  '  darkness ' 
which  came  over  Egypt,  and  this  '  light '  in  the 
dwellings  of  the  Hebrews,  not  only  the  working  of 
Almighty  power,  but  also  emblems  of  the  greater 
darkness  by  which  the  spirits  of  the  Egyptians 
were  surrounded  when  they  bowed  down  before 
the  gods  which  they  themselves  had  made  ;  and  of 
the  light,  kindled  by  faith  in  the  God  of  their 
fathers,  which  was  ever  burning  in  those  Hebrew 
slaves.  They  seem  to  hear  the  cry  of  Isaiah, 
c  Arise,  shine,  for  thy  light  is  come,  and  the  glory  of 
the  Lord  is  risen  upon  thee.  For,  behold,  the 
darkness  shall  cover  the  earth,  and  gross  darkness 
the  people  :  but  the  Lord  shall  arise  upon  thee, 
and  His  glory  shall  be  seen  upon  thee.'  And  St. 
Paul  says,  '  God,  who  commanded  the  light  to 
shine  out  of  darkness,  is  He  who  hath  shined  in 
our  hearts,  to  give  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  But 
we  have  this  treasure  in  earthen  vessels,  that  the  ex- 
cellency of  the  power  may  be  of  God,  and  not  of  us.' 

Marvellously  simple,  as  embodied  in  words  in- 
spired by  Divine  love,  is  this  blending  together  of 
the  seen  and  the  unseen,  of  spirit  and  matter,  of 
what  is  mortal  and  subject  to  change  and  decay, 
and  of  what  is  immortal  and  changeless. 

Very  wonderful  and  beautiful  is  the  harmony 
which  runs  through  Revelation.  It  appears  won- 
derful  to  us,  whose  every-day  life  is  spent   in  a 

8 


114  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

world  where  sin  has  brought  confusion.  Yet  man 
may  attain  to  a  suitable  apprehension  of  it,  if  only 
he  will  have  faith  in  God :  for  as  '  in  the  begin- 
ning,' we  are  taught  that  life  is  light,  and  God  the 
source  of  all,  so  at  the  close  of  God's  written  reve- 
lation to  men,  we  read  concerning  the  holy  city, 
new  Jerusalem,  that  it  '  had  no  need  of  the  sun, 
neither  of  the  moon,  to  shine  in  it ;  for  the  glory 
of  God  did  lighten  it,  and  the  Lamb  is  the  light 
thereof.' 

The  sun  of  our  solar  system  was  not  created  with 
the  '  Light.'  Ages  passed  away  during  which  eternal 
Wisdom  was  fashioning  the  earth,  and  making  it 
ready  to  be  the  dwelling-place  of  man.  Then  God 
said,  '  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image ;'  '  the  Lord 
God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and 
breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life ;  and 
man  became  a  living  soul.'  Not  until  He  had 
created  man,  and  given  him  dominion  over  the 
whole  earth,  did  God  rest  from  all  His  work  which 
He  had  made  :  and  then  the  great  benediction  was 
pronounced,  which  seems  to  typify  the  blessing 
which,  from  that  day  to  the  present,  rests  upon 
finished  work  well  done.  The  life  of  each  indi- 
vidual member  of  the  human  race,  if  lived  as  in 
the  sight  of  God,  will  be  blessed  by  the  Maker  of 
all  j  blessed  with  the  rest  of  the  seventh  day ; 
blessed  with  the  '  rest  that  remaineth  for  the  people 
of  God.' 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  115 

1  Workmen  of  God  !  oh,  lose  not  heart, 

But  learn  what  God  is  like  ; 
And  in  the  darkest  battlefield 

Thou  shalt  know  where  to  strike. 

•  Thrice  blest  is  he  to  whom  is  given 

The  instinct  that  can  tell 
That  God  is  on  the  field  when  He 
Is  most  invisible. 

'  Blest,  too,  is  he  who  can  divine 

Where  real  right  doth  lie, 
And  dares  to  take  the  side  that  seems 
Wrong  to  man's  blindfold  eye. 

'  Then  learn  to  scorn  the  praise  of  men, 
And  learn  to  lose  with  God  ; 
For  Jesus  won  the  world  through  shame, 
And  beckons  thee  His  road. 

'For  right  is  right,  since  God  is  God, 

And  right  the  day  must  win  ; 
To  doubt  would  be  disloyalty, 
To  falter  would  be  sin.'* 

God  rested,  satisfied  with  His  last  great  work, 
Man :  a  being  who  is  endowed  with  a  lofty  intel- 
lect, a  mind  that  is  capable  of  communing  with  his 
Creator,  and  a  heart  that  can  love  Him — love  even 
as  God  loved  him  ;  for  as  all  light  is  from  God,  so 
is  all  pure  love  in  man  a  flame  from  the  fire  of  love 
that  is  ever  burning  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father. 
God  rested.  He  saw  everything  that  He  had  made, 
and  behold,  it  was  very  good ;  and  God  took  Adam 
and  put  him  into  the  Garden  of  Eden  to  dress  it  and 
to  keep  it,  and  gave  to  him  all  created  good,  with  a 
power  of  free  will  to  choose  the  good  and  refuse  the 
*  Faber. 


n6  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

only  thing  that  could  harm  him — namely,  the  experi- 
mental knowledge  of  evil.  Evil  existed  before  man 
was  created,  and  the  spirit  of  evil  soon  glided  out 
of  the  darkness  into  the  light,  and  the  rest  of  God 
was  broken,  and  the  peace  of  Eden  fled.  Earth, 
henceforth,  became  a  great  battle-field;  and  through 
the  centuries  is  heard  from  time  to  time,  above  the 
din  of  war,  the  piercing  wail  of  the  Divine  Love, 
1  What  could  have  been  done  more  to  my  vineyard 
that  I  have  not  done  in  it  ?'  '  Return  unto  Me.' 
'  Look  unto  Me,  and  be  ye  saved,  all  the  ends  of 
the  earth.'  '  Ho,  everyone  that  thirsteth,  come  ye 
to  the  waters,  and  he  that  hath  no  money,  come  ye, 
buy  and  eat ;  yea,  come,  buy  wine  and  milk,  with- 
out money  and  without  price.'  'O  my  people, 
what  have  I  done  unto  thee  ?  and  wherein  have  I 
wearied  thee  ?  testify  against  me.'  '  O  Jerusalem, 
Jerusalem,  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy 
children  together,  even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her 
chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not.'  Sin 
had  come  forth  out  of  the  darkness,  and  was  cast- 
ing its  shadow  upon  what  God  had  made  so  good. 
The  glorious  creation  became  a  ruin,  and  man,  the 
crown  of  creation,  forfeited  his  inheritance,  and 
sold  his  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pottage.  The 
dread  sentence  was  pronounced, '  Dust  thou  art,  and 
unto  dust  shalt  thou  return.'  It  was  but  for  a  brief 
space  that  the  work  of  creation  remained  unsullied 
in  the  light  of  God,  and  only  while  it  was  so  could 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  117 

God  rest.  Sin  must  be  overthrown  and  destroyed; 
and  God  '  put  on  righteousness  as  a  breastplate,  and 
a  helmet  of  salvation  upon  His  head ;  and  He  put 
on  the  garments  of  vengeance  for  clothing,  and  was 
clad  with  zeal  as  a  cloak.'  The  work  of  redemp- 
tion must  be  begun  ;  and  '  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord ' 
lifted  up  a  standard  against  the  enemy  that  was 
coming  in  like  a  flood  ;  and  He  said  unto  the  ser- 
pent, the  father  of  lies,  '  Because  thou  hast  done 
this,  thou  art  cursed  above  all  cattle,  and  above 
every  beast  of  the  field ;  upon  thy  belly  shalt  thou 
go,  and  dust  shalt  thou  eat  all  the  days  of  thy 
life.  And  I  will  put  enmity  between  thee  and 
the  woman,  and  between  thy  seed  and  her  seed ; 
it  shall  bruise  thy  head,  and  thou  shalt  bruise  his 
heel.' 

The  sentence  pronounced  by  the  holy  and  just 
Judge  on  man,  and  on  the  adversary  of  man,  caused, 
as  it  were,  an  awful  pause  in  the  onward  march  of 
the  'Great  Procession.'  Adam  and  Eve,  the  offspring 
of  united  power  and  love,  came  next  in  order  to 
the  Three  Persons  of  the  Trinity.  As  the  son  and 
daughter  of  the  King  of  the  universe,  children  of 
God,  and  heirs  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  no 
created  beings  could  excel  them  in  dignity.  In 
this  age  of  the  world,  when  assumption  takes  the 
place  of  truth,  and  the  capricious  lights  of  self- 
assertion  are  substituted  for  the  lights  of  Revela- 
tion, of  conscience,  and  of  true  philosophy ;  when  " 


n8  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

man  looks  around  him  and  surveys  humanity  in  its 
fallen  state,  realizes  its  vileness,  and  hears  so-called 
Christians  consigning  the  great  mass  of  mankind  to 
the  region  of  eternal  torment — (where,  in  the  words 
of  Calvin,  '  myriads  of  children  with  their  toothless 
gums  are  crawling  about  the  floor  of  hell ')  ;  when 
men  are  taught  that  the  greatest  sinner  has  nothing 
to  do  in  order  to  be  saved  but  to  call  upon  the 
Lord  Jesus,  which  is  in  direct  contradiction  to  the 
teaching  of  the  Divine  Master,  when  He  put  the 
question,  '  Why  call  ye  Me,  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not 
the  things  which  I  say  ?' — in  such  an  age,  and  face 
to  face  with  the  fact  that  man  in  the  aggregate  is 
utterly  indifferent  to,  if  not  ignorant  of,  his  high 
descent,  his  birthright  privileges,  his  priceless  in- 
heritance, once  forfeited,  but  now  fully  redeemed, 
purchased  by  the  Sacrifice  once  offered  for  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world,  it  is  only  by  asserting 
the  dignity  of  man,  showing  him  what  he  is  in 
union  with  God,  and  what  he  has  made  himself  by 
departing  from  God,  that  man  can  be  raised  from 
the  depths  to  which  he  has  fallen,  and  be  put  back 
into  the  path  that  leads  to  the  height  from  which 
sin  has  drawn  him. 

The  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  illustrates  what 
perfect  man  is.  The  lives  of  the  great  majority  of 
men  give  unmistakable  evidence  of  what  man  has 
become  since  he  allowed  sin  to  intervene  between 
him  and  his  Maker.     While  he  is  content  to  rest 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION 


119 


under  the  dark  shadow  instead  of  striving  to  sur- 
mount it,  and  get  once  more  into  the  sunlight  of 
God's  favour,  he  must  be  taught  that,  even  in  ruin, 
he  is  still  a  superhuman  being,  and  that  Christ  died 
to  redeem  every  individual  soul.  He  must  be 
made  to  realize  that,  in  the  sight  of  God,  it  matters 
not  whether  the  soul  tenants  for  a  few  brief  years 
a  body  that  is  clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen,  or 
one  that  is  clothed  in  rags.  As  long  as  the  miser- 
able belief  that  is  embodied  in  the  words  : 

1  Rattle  his  bones  over  the  stones, 
It  is  only  a  pauper  that  nobody  owns,' 

is  allowed  to  prevail  in  place  of  the  Bible  story  of 
the  poor  man,  who,  when  he  died,  was  carried  by 
the  angels  to  Abraham's  bosom  ;  as  long  as  the 
nobility  and  high  mightiness  of  open  sinners  are 
engraved  on  marble,  and  praises  are  lavished  upon 
them  by  the  world  of  sycophants,  the  false  estimate 
of  man  will  prevail  with  the  great  mass  of  mankind, 
and  check  all  effort  to  realize  man's  high  destiny. 

The  origin  of  evil  is  known  only  to  the  ever- 
blessed  Trinity.  That  it  is  the  opposite  of  good 
we  know;  and,  therefore,  as  God  is  good  it  is  a 
departure  from  goodness  ;  the  will  of  a  created 
intelligence  opposed  to  the  will  of  God.  Any 
divergence  from  a  perfect  law  would  be,  like  the  sin 
of  Adam,  a  wilful  act  of  disobedience  if  done  by  a 
reasonable  creature,  who  is  endowed  with  free  will ; 
and  the  result  would  be  the  same,  whatever  form 


120  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

the  disobedience  might  take,  because  an  element 
of  disorder  would  thus  invade  God's  system. 

The  ■  war  in  heaven,'  with  the  result  that  Satan 
and  his  angels  were  cast  down  to  earth,  and  the  fall 
of  man,  with  the  result  that  he  was  sent  forth  from 
Eden,  prove  that  the  law  of  cause  and  effect  is 
constant,  whether  it  is  working  among  angels  or 
among  men.  '  Spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places' 
had  the  same  punishment  awarded  to  it  as  spiritual 
wickedness  in  this  lower  world. 

A  false  note  in  music  destroys  harmony ;  the 
breath  of  slander  may  blight  the  fairest  character ; 
a  lie  causes  what  is  false  to  appear  true.  The  first 
act  of  the  great  drama  of  human  life  enacted  in 
Eden  was  related  to  the  '  war  in  heaven,'  in  which 
1  Michael  and  his  angels  fought  against  the  dragon, 
and  the  dragon  fought,  and  his  angels,  and  prevailed 
not ;  neither  was  their  place  found  any  more  in 
heaven.  And  the  great  dragon  was  cast  out,  that 
old  serpent  called  the  devil,  and  Satan,  which 
deceiveth  the  whole  world  :  he  was  cast  out  into 
the  earth,  and  his  angels  were  cast  out  with  him.' 
He  fell,  as  the  Lord  Jesus  tells  us,  '  like  lightning 
from  heaven,'  and  his  first  recorded  act  on  earth 
was  bringing  the  subtle  influence  of  self-pleasing 
to  bear  upon  the  fairest  creation  of  God.  The 
tempter  knew  that  he  could  reach  the  lord  of  crea- 
tion through  his  wife,  and  so  bring  ruin  and  death 
upon  them  and  their  children.     His  superhuman 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  121 

subtilty  enabled  him  to  accomplish  his  design ; 
but  the  mystery  which  the  angels  have  desired  to 
look  into  was  hidden  from  him.  He  did  not  know, 
in  the  hour  of  his  triumph,  that  God  Himself  would 
come  down  from  heaven  to  snatch  the  prey  from 
his  hand,  and  redeem  the  human  race :  that  although 
in  His  justice  He  must  punish  the  sin,  He  would,  in 
His  love  and  mercy,  and  according  to  His  prede- 
termined purpose,  save  the  sinner ;  and  eventually 
cast  sin  and  death  into  the  lake  of  fire,  the  eternal 
fire  of  God's  wrath  against  sin. 

Too  often  in  these  days  of  modern  thought  the 
intellect  of  man  attempts  in  various  ways  to 
account  for  sin,  and  even  to  explain  it  away  or 
cast  a  veil  over  it,  and  make  it  appear  less  hateful 
than  it  is;  but  the  universality,  and  the  dread 
working  of  sin,  changing  as  it  does  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  God  into  slaves  of  self,  cause  all  those 
who  are  striving  to  overcome  sin  in  themselves,  and 
who  are  helping  others  to  fight  against  it,  to  regard 
it  as  the  most  terrible  reality  of  life.  Everyone 
may  say  with  St.  Paul, '  I  find  then  a  law  that,  when 
I  would  do  good,  evil  is  present  with  me.  For  I 
delight  in  the  law  of  God  after  the  inward  man  : 
but  I  see  another  law  in  my  members,  warring 
against  the  law  of  my  mind,  and  bringing  me  into  ' 
captivity  to  the  law  of  sin  which  is  in  my  members. 
O,  wretched  man  that  I  am  !  who  shall  deliver  me 
from  this  body  of  death  ?'     But  he  adds,  '  I  thank 


122  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  There  is 
therefore  now  no  condemnation  to  them  which  are 
in  Christ  Jesus,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh  but 
after  the  Spirit.  For  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in 
Christ  Jesus  hath  made  me  free  from  the  law  of  sin 
and  death.'  This  Christ  was  the  seed  of  the  woman 
that  was  to  bruise  the  serpent's  head  by  the  law  of 
sacrifice — the  absolute  and  entire  surrender  of  self. 
The  words,  '  I  came  not  to  do  Mine  own  will,  but 
the  will  of  Him  who  sent  Me,'  epitomise  the  life  of 
Him  who  died  on  Calvary ;  and  that  perfect  Sacri- 
fice secured  the  redemption  of  a  lost  world,  over- 
came sin  and  death,  and  opened  heaven  to  man. 
In  like  manner  the  yielding  up  of  our  will  to  God, 
so  that  whether  in  sickness  or  in  health,  in  storm 
or  in  sunshine,  we  can  say,  '  Not  my  will,  but 
Thine  be  done,'  gives  us,  in,  through,  and  by  Christ, 
all  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth  ;  a  share  of 
Christ's  glory;  a  seat  on  His  judgment  throne; 
and  it  ensures  the  welcome  '  Come,  ye  blessed  of 
My  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you.' 
Well  may  St.  Paul  say,  '  For  our  light  affliction, 
which  is  but  for  a  moment,  worketh  for  us  a  far 
more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory ;  while 
we  look  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but  at 
the  things  which  are  not  seen  ;  for  the  things  which 
are  seen  are  temporal ;  but  the  things  which  are  not 
seen  are  eternal.' 

But  before  man  can  enter  Canaan  he  has  to  pass 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  123 

through  the  wilderness,  as  our  ancestors  did  when 
they  left  Eden.  Even  in  its  uncultured  state  it 
was  a  beautiful  wilderness.  Thorns  and  thistles, 
indeed,  sprang  up  in  their  path,  because  the  ground 
was  cursed  for  Adam's  sin ;  but  the  unchangeable 
Jehovah  having  from  the  beginning  loved  the  crea- 
ture He  had  made  in  His  own  image,  loved  on 
with  patient  pitying  love ;  and  His  smile  was  seen 
in  the  sunlight,  which  caused  the  flowers  to  grow 
wherever  a  tear  of  penitence  fell. 

Next  in  the  long  procession  walked  Cain  and 
Abel,  inheritors  of  that  gift  of  free  will,  by  the 
misuse  of  which  Adam  and  Eve  had  fallen.  Each 
was  capable  of  loving  and  obeying  God,  or  of 
turning  away  from  Him  and  disobeying  Him. 
Each  could  walk  through  the  wilderness  in  the 
narrow  path  of  obedience  under  the  guidance  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  or  could  turn  into  the  broad 
plane  that  stretched  out  on  either  side,  and  there 
be  a  law  unto  himself  and  the  slave  of  his  own  self- 
will.  In  the  persons  of  Cain  and  Abel  we  have 
typical  representatives  of  the  bad  and  good  in  all 
ages.  Each  child  of  earth  when  he  joins  the  great 
procession  has  to  choose  under  whose  banner  he 
will  march  in  the  war ;  for  fight  he  must,  either  for 
God  or  against  Him.  According  to  the  choice 
he  makes  will  be  his  future  weal  or  woe.  '  A 
good  man  out  of  the  good  treasure  of  his  heart 
bringeth  forth  good  things  ;  and  an  evil  man  out  of 


124  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

the  evil  treasure  bringeth  forth  evil  things.'  And 
so  it  was  that  when  the  brothers  offered  their  sacri- 
fices to  the  Lord  the  sacrifice  of  Abel  was  accepted, 
and  the  sacrifice  of  Cain  was  rejected ;  for  we  are 
told  that,  '  the  Lord  had  respect  unto  Abel  and  to 
his  offering,  but  unto  Cain  and  to  his  offering  He 
had  not  respect.'  The  reason  for  the  rejection  of 
Cain's  offering  is  explained  :  '  If  thou  doest  well, 
shalt  thou  not  be  accepted  ?  and  if  thou  doest  not 
well,  sin  lieth  at  the  door.'  Face  to  face  with  sin 
stood  Cain,  free  to  refuse  the  evil  and  choose  the 
good.  God  would  not  keep  him  from  opening  the 
door  of  his  heart  and  taking  sin  in,  because  that  would 
involve  an  interference  with  the  free  will  on  which 
the  moral  quality  of  human  actions  depends.  In  the 
case  of  Abel  sin  was  not  'lying  at  the  door,'  and  thus 
he  was  able  to  present  a  sacrifice  that  was  acceptable 
unto  God;  and  he  was  pronounced  'righteous.' 

So,  from  the  beginning,  we  see  the  power  of  the 
'invisible'  controlling  and  directing  the  'visible.' 
Man  sees  only  the  outward  acts ;  God  looks  into 
the  heart.  Wise  men,  in  this  era  of  free-thought 
and  moral  declension,  tell  us  that  our  offerings  can 
be  of  no  value  in  the  eyes  of  a  purely  spiritual  God  ; 
that  our  gold,  and  silver,  and  precious  stones,  the 
rich  adornment  of  churches  erected  for  God's  glory 
and  the  good  of  men,  are  but  so  many  evidences  of 
aesthetic  taste,  and  are  a  wasteful  expenditure  of  time 
and  money.     We  would  have  them  remember  the 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  125 

story  of  Cain  and  Abel ;  the  building  of  Solomon's 
Temple  in  all  its  magnificent  details,  under  the 
directions  of  the  Architect  of  the  universe ;  and 
that  touching  episode  in  the  life  of  one  whose  name 
is  written  in  the  '  Lamb's  Book  of  Life,'  but  who  is 
only  known  on  earth  as  a  poor  widow  who  cast  into 
the  treasury  of  God's  house  in  Jerusalem  all  that 
she  possessed.  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  looks  into  the 
heart ;  and  this  fact  is,  as  it  were,  the  key  that 
unlocks  the  door  of  the  council-chamber  of  Deity, 
and  enables  us  to  see  and  understand  a  little  of 
God's  ways,  which  are  not  as  man's  ways.  His 
thoughts  are  higher  than  man's  thoughts,  and  so 
He  sees  what  is  to  Him  the  priceless  offering  of  a 
pure,  loving  intention  where  man  sees  only  a  sculp- 
tured entablature.  He  sees  an  act  of  adoration  to  the 
Lamb  where  man  sees  but  a  golden  chalice.  He 
sees  a  longing  desire  to  do  something  for  His  glory 
and  honour,  where  man  sees  only  a  costly  edifice. 
He  sees  the  sacrifice  of  self,  where  man  sees  but  a 
widow's  mite.  Hence  it  was  that  Abel's  offering 
found  favour  with  God,  and  Cain's  was  rejected. 
The  outward  and  visible  sign  of  sacrifice  was  in 
Cain's  offering,  but  the  inward  and  spiritual  grace 
was  not  there ;  and  both  are  required  by  God,  as 
Christ  taught,  when  He  said  to  the  Pharisees  :  '  Woe 
unto  you  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites  !  for 
ye  pay  tithe  of  mint,  and  anise,  and  cummin, 
and  have  omitted  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law, 


126  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

judgment,  mercy,  and  faith  ;  these  ought  ye  to  have 
done,  and  not  to  leave  the  other  undone.'  With 
the  firstling  of  his  flock,  Abel  offered  also  his  heart. 
Cain  made  the  material  offering,  but  not  the 
spiritual ;  thus  rendering  the  material  offering  of  no 
avail.  As  it  was  then,  so  it  is  now  :  each  member 
of  the  human  family  must  follow  after  either  Cain 
or  Abel.  He  must  choose  for  himself  whether,  at 
the  '  end  of  the  days,'  he  will  stand  on  the  right 
hand  or  on  the  left  of  the  Judge ;  and  whether, 
while  marching  on  through  the  wilderness,  he  will 
keep  in  spiritual  darkness,  or  walk  in  the  light  of 
obedience,  love,  and  sacrifice. 

As  men  multiplied  on  the  earth,  the  great  pro- 
cession lengthened,  and  one  generation  after  another 
passed  out  of  sight  ,  but  the  ranks  of  the  army  have 
ever  remained  unbroken,  and  like  the  windings  of 
a  mighty  river,  it  moves  on  ceaselessly  through  suc- 
cessive ages.  '  Not  lost,  but  gone  before,'  is  what 
we  say  of  the  vanguard  who,  no  doubt,  are  con- 
scious of  the  far-stretching  column  that  is  marching 
in  the  way  their  steps  have  trod;  and  those  who 
are  in  the  rear  know  that  they  too  must  one  day 
let  go  the  material  mantle,  and  join  the  advanced 
guard.  '  How  long,  O  Lord !  holy,  and  true,  dost 
Thou  not  judge,  and  avenge  our  blood  on  them 
that  dwell  on  the  earth  ?'  was  the  cry  of  the  souls 
that  St.  John  saw  under  the  altar,  who  had  been 
slain  for  the  word  of  God,  and  for  the  testimony 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  127 

which  they  held.     '  And  white  robes  were  given 
unto  every  one  of  thern  ;  and  it  was  said  unto  them, 
that  they  should  rest  yet  for  a  little  season,  until 
their  fellow-servants  also,  and  their  brethren,  that 
should  be  killed  as  they  were,  should  be  fulfilled.' 
And  then  St.  John,  the  beloved  disciple — to  whom, 
doubtless,   such    great   revelations  of  the   unseen 
universe  were  vouchsafed  because  of  the  great  love 
he  bore  to  his  Divine  Master,  and  of  his  faithful- 
ness to  the  Crucified  One  when  all  the  other  apostles 
forsook  Him  and  fled— he,  the  faithful  and  true 
witness,  tells  of  '  a  great  multitude  which  no  man 
could  number,   of  all  nations,  and  kindreds,  and 
tongues,'  standing   'before  the  throne,  and  before 
the  Lamb,  clothed  with  white  robes,  and  palms  in 
their  hands;'  and  he  heard  them  crying  with  a  loud 
voice,  saying,  '  Salvation  to  our  God  which  sitteth 
upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb.'     And  one 
of  the  elders  which  stood  with  the  angels  round 
about  the  throne,  told  St.  John  that  those  who 
were  arrayed  in  white  robes,  were  '  they  which  came 
out  of  great  tribulation,  and  had  washed  their  robes, 
and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.' 
'Therefore  are   they   before   the   throne  of  God, 
and  serve  Him  day  and  night  in  His  temple,  and 
He  that  sitteth  on  the  throne  shall  dwell  among 
them.     They  shall  hunger  no  more,  neither  thirst 
any  more ;  neither  shall  the  sun  light  on  them,  nor 
any  heat.     For  the  Lamb  which  is  in  the  midst  of 


128  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

the  throne  shall  feed  them,  and  shall  lead  them 
unto  living  fountains  of  waters ;  and  God  shall 
wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes.' 

St.  John  also  writes  :  '  I  saw  in  the  right  hand  of 
Him  that  sat  on  the  throne  a  book,  written  within 
and  on  the  backside,  sealed  with  seven  seals.  And 
1  saw  a  strong  angel  proclaiming  with  a  loud  voice, 
Who  is  worthy  to  open  the  book,  and  to  loose  the 
seals  thereof?  And  no  man  in  heaven,  nor  in  earth, 
neither  under  the  earth,  was  able  to  open  the  book, 
neither  to  look  thereon.  And  I  wept  much,  because 
no  man  was  found  worthy  to  open  and  to  read  the 
book,  neither  to  look  thereon.  And  one  of  the 
elders '—  one,  it  may  be,  of  '  the  noble  army  of 
martyrs,'  or  of  'the  goodly  fellowship  of  the 
prophets,'  or  of  the  long  line  of  confessors — '  saith 
unto  me,  Weep  not :  behold,  the  Lion  of  the  tribe 
of  Judah,  the  Root  of  David,  hath  prevailed  to 
open  the  book,  and  to  loose  the  seven  seals  thereof. 
And  I  beheld,  and  lo,  in  the  midst  of  the  throne, 
and  of  the  four  beasts,  and  in  the  midst  of  the 
elders,  stood  a  Lamb  as  it  had  been  slain,  having 
seven  horns  and  seven  eyes,  which  are  the  seven 
Spirits  of  God  sent  forth  into  all  the  earth.  And 
He  came  and  took  the  book  out  of  the  right  hand 
of  Him  that  sat  upon  the  throne.  And  when  He 
had  taken  the  book,  the  four  beasts  and  the  four 
and  twenty  elders  fell  down  before  the  Lamb, 
having  everyone  of  them   harps,  and  golden  vials 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  129 

full  of  odours,  which  are  the  prayers  of  saints. 
And  they  sung  a  new  song,  saying,  Thou  art  worthy 
to  take  the  book,  and  to  open  the  seals  thereof: 
for  Thou  wast  slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to  God 
by  Thy  blood,  out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue, 
and  people,  and  nation  ;  and  hast  made  us  unto  our 
God  kings  and  priests,  and  we  shall  reign  on  the 
earth.  And  I  beheld,  and  I  heard  the  voice  of 
many  angels  round  about  the  throne,  and  the 
beasts,  and  the  elders  :  and  the  number  of  them 
was  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand,  and  thousands 
of  thousands ;  saying  with  a  loud  voice,  Worthy  is 
the  Lamb  that  was  slain  to  receive  power,  and  riches, 
and  wisdom,  and  strength,  and  honour,  and  glory, 
and  blessing.  And  every  creature  which  is  in 
heaven,  and  on  the  earth,  and  such  as  are  in  the 
sea,  and  all  that  are  in  them  heard  I  saying,  Blessing, 
and  honour,  and  glory,  and  power,  be  unto  Him 
that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb 
for  ever  and  ever.  And  the  four  beasts  said,  Amen. 
And  the  four  and  twenty  elders  fell  down  and  wor- 
shipped Him  that  liveth  for  ever  and  ever.' 

Among  that  great  multitude,  we  may  feel  sure 
that  Enoch,  who  'walked  with  God,'  was  num- 
bered ;  also  Noah,  who  '  found  grace  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Lord,'  when  all  flesh  had  corrupted  his  way 
upon  the  earth,  and  the  earth  was  filled  with 
violence ;  for  he  was  one  of  the  three  upright  men 
distinguished  by  God  Himself,  who,  when  the  house 

9 


130  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

of  Israel  had  set  up  idols  in  their  hearts,  and 
polluted  the  land  by  their  iniquities,  said  to  Ezekiel, 
1  Son  of  man,  when  the  land  sinneth  against  Me  by 
trespassing  grievously,  then  will  I  stretch  out  My 
hand  upon  it,  and  will  cut  off  man  and  beast  from  it : 
though  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job  were  in  it,  they  should 
deliver  but  their  own  souls  by  their  righteousness.' 
The  apostle  defines  faith  to  be  '  the  substance 
(or  ground)  of  things  hoped  for,  the  evidence 
of  things  not  seen.  For  by  it  the  elders  ob- 
tained a  good  report.  Through  faith  we  under- 
stand that  the  worlds  were  framed  by  the  word  of 
God,  so  that  things  which  are  seen  were  not  made 
of  things  which  do  appear.'  '  Without  faith  ' — the 
faith  that  overcometh  the  world  and  its  temptations, 
the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God — '  it  is  impossible  to 
please  God.'  '  By  faith  Abel  offered  unto  God  a 
more  excellent  sacrifice  than  Cain,  by  which  he 
obtained  witness  that  he  was  righteous,  God  testi- 
fying of  his  gifts :  and  by  it  he  being  dead  yet 
speaketh.  By  faith  Enoch  was  translated  that  he 
should  not  see  death  ;  and  was  not  found,  because 
God  had  translated  him  :  for  before  his  translation 
he  had  this  testimony,  that  he  pleased  God.'  '  By 
faith  Noah,  being  warned  of  God  of  things  not  seen 
as  yet,  moved  with  fear,  prepared  an  ark  to  the 
saving  of  his  house  ;  by  the  which  he  condemned 
the  world,  and  became  heir  of  the  righteousness 
which  is  by  faith.    By  faith  Abraham,  when  he  was 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  131 

called  to  go  out  into  a  place  which  he  should  after 
receive  for  an  inheritance,  obeyed ;  and  he  went 
out,  not  knowing  whither  he  went.  By  faith  he 
sojourned  in  the  land  of  promise,  as  in  a  strange 
country,  dwelling  in  tabernacles  with  Isaac  and 
Jacob,  the  heirs  with  him  of  the  same  promise  : 
For  he  looked  for  a  city  which  hath  foundations, 
whose  builder  and  maker  is  God.  Through  faith 
also  Sara  herself  received  strength  to  conceive  seed, 
and  was  delivered  of  a  child  when  she  was  past  age, 
because  she  judged  Him  faithful  who  had  promised. 
Therefore  sprang  there  even  of  one,  and  him  as 
good  as  dead,  so  many  as  the  stars  of  the  sky  in 
multitude,  and  as  the  sand  which  is  by  the  sea  shore 
innumerable.  These  all  died  according  to  faith, 
not  having  received  the  promises,  but  having  seen 
them  afar  off,  and  were  persuaded  of  them,  and 
embraced  them,  and  confessed  that  they  were 
strangers  and  pilgrims  on  the  earth.  For  they  that 
say  such  things  declare  plainly  that  they  seek  a 
country.  And  truly,  if  they  had  been  mindful  of 
that  country  from  whence  they  came  out,  they 
might  have  had  opportunity  to  have  returned.  But 
now  they  desire  a  better  country,  that  is,  an  heavenly : 
wherefore  God  is  not  ashamed  to  be  called  their 
God :  for  He  hath  prepared  for  them  a  city.  By 
faith  Abraham,  when  he  was  tried,  offered  up  Isaac  : 
and  he  that  had  received  the  promises  offered  up 
his  only  begotten  son,  of  whom  it  was  said,  That  in 


i32  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

Isaac  shall  thy  seed  be  called :  accounting  that 
God  was  able  to  raise  him  up,  even  from  the  dead ; 
from  whence  also  he  received  him  in  a  figure.  By 
faith  Isaac  blessed  Jacob  and  Esau  concerning 
things  to  come.  By  faith  Jacob  when  he  was  a 
dying,  blessed  both  the  sons  of  Joseph ;  and  wor- 
shipped, leaning  upon  the  top  of  his  staff.  By 
faith  Joseph,  when  he  died,  made  mention  of  the 
departing  of  the  children  of  Israel ;  and  gave  com- 
mandment concerning  his  bones.  By  faith  Moses, 
when  he  was  born,  was  hid  three  months  of  his 
parents,  because  they  saw  he  was  a  proper  child ; 
and  they  were  not  afraid  of  the  king's  command- 
ment. By  faith  Moses,  when  he  was  come  to 
years,  refused  to  be  called  the  son  of  Pharaoh's 
daughter;  choosing  rather  to  suffer  affliction  with 
the  people  of  God,  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of 
sin  for  a  season ;  esteeming  the  reproach  of  Christ 
greater  riches  than  the  treasures  in  Egypt :  for  he 
had  respect  unto  the  recompense  of  the  reward. 
By  faith  he  forsook  Egypt,  not  fearing  the  wrath  of 
the  king :  for  he  endured  as  seeing  Him  who  is  in- 
visible. Through  faith  he  kept  the  passover,  and 
the  sprinkling  of  blood,  lest  he  that  destroyed  the 
firstborn  should  touch  them.  By  faith  they  passed 
through  the  Red  sea  as  by  dry  land  :  which  the 
Egyptians  assaying  to  do  were  drowned.  By  faith 
the  walls  of  Jericho  fell  down,  after  they  were  com- 
passed  about   seven   days.      By   faith  the   harlot 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  133 

Rahab  perished  not  with  them  that  believed  not, 
when  she  had  received  the  spies  with  peace.' 

'And   what,'  adds   the  writer   of  this    Epistle, 
•  shall  I  more  say  ?  for  the  time  would  fail  me  to 
tell  of  Gideon,  and  of  Barak,  and  of  Samson,  and 
of  Jephthah ;  of  David  also,  and  Samuel,  and  of 
the   prophets;   who  through  faith   subdued   king- 
doms, wrought  righteousness,  obtained   promises, 
stopped  the  mouths  of  lions,  quenched  the  violence 
of  fire,  escaped  the  edge  of  the  sword,  out  of  weak- 
ness were  made   strong,  waxed   valiant   in   fight, 
turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens.     Women 
received  their  dead  raised  to  life  again,  and  others 
were  tortured,  not  accepting  deliverance,  that  they 
may  obtain  a  better  resurrection ;  and  others  had 
trial  of  cruel  mockings  and  scourgings,  yea,  more- 
over   of    bonds,    and    imprisonment :    they   were 
stoned,  they  were   sawn   asunder,  were   tempted, 
were  slain  with  the  sword  :  they  wandered  about 
in    sheep-skins    and    goat-skins  j    being   destitute, 
afflicted,  tormented ;  (of  whom  the  world  was  not 
worthy  :)  they  wandered  in  deserts,  and  in  moun- 
tains, and  in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth.     And 
these  all,  having  obtained  a  good  report  through 
faith,  received  not  the  promise,  God  having  pro- 
vided some  better  thing  for  us,  that  they  without 
us  should  not  be  made  perfect.'    'Wherefore  seeing 
we  also  are  compassed  about  with  so  great  a  cloud 
of  witnesses,  let  us  lay  aside  every  weight  and  the 


i34  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

sin  that  doth  so  easily  beset  us,  and  let  us  run 
with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  us :  look- 
ing unto  Jesus,  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith; 
who  for. the  joy  that  was  set  before  Him  endured 
the  cross,  despising  the  shame,  and  is  set  down  at 
the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God.' 

St.  John  wrote,  for  the  edification  of  the  Church, 
which  is  the  body  of  Christ,  of  the  state  of  the 
blessed  dead,  who,  with  the  Crucified,  are  alive  for 
evermore  in  a  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal 
in  the  heavens  :  and  this  author  wrote  of  those 
servants  of  God,  who  were  remarkable  types  of  the 
varying  characters  of  all  who,  in  succeeding  gener- 
ations, should  tread  in  their  footsteps ;  and  by 
their  example  of  faith  and  good  works,  lead  others 
to  live  such  lives  on  earth  as  would  prepare  them 
for  the  life  of  glcry  and  happiness  which  was  re- 
vealed through  St.  John,  in  order  that  we  may 
know  a  little  of  what  God  has  prepared  for  those 
that  love  Him.  'Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear 
heard  ;  neither  hath  it  entered  into  the  heart  of 
man  '  to  conceive  all  the  exceeding  glory. 

It  is  a  comfort  and  a  joy  to  know  that  the  way 
in  which  the  soldiers  of  the  Cross  have  to  walk 
now  is  no  new  or  untrodden  path.  Though  strait 
and  narrow,  it  is  wide  enough  for  all  who  choose 
to  walk  in  it.  It  is  a  royal  road,  and  along  it  have 
all  the  saints  of  God  walked  from  the  days  of 
1  righteous  Abel '  unto  the  present  time.     On  the 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  135 

line  of  march,  have  been,  and  shall  be  seen,  even 
unto  the  end,  prophets,  priests,  and  kings;  apostles, 
confessors,  and  virgins ;  a  noble  army  of  martyrs, 
living  as  strangers  and  pilgrims.  They  turn  from 
the  allurements  of  the  world,  as  Moses  did  in  old 
time,  and  they  endure  the  trials  of  life,  as  becomes 
soldiers  of  the  Cross,  and  as  seeing  Him  who  to 
mortal  sight  is  invisible  ;  but  who  to  the  eye  of  faith 
is  always  a  present  help  in  times  of  adversity,  as 
near  to  each  one  who  calls  upon  Him  in  the  hour 
of  sorrow  as  He  was  to  the  sisters  of  Lazarus,  when 
He  said  unto  them,  '  Thy  brother  shall  rise  again.' 
There  are  many  battalions  in  the  army,  and  as 
the  procession  passes  on,  we  see  by  the  movements 
of  the  soldiers,  and  by  the  device  upon  the  banners 
which  they  carry,  the  object  which  they  are  striving 
to  attain.  At  one  period  of  the  world's  history, 
men  attempted  to  build  a  city,  and  a  tower  whose 
top  should  reach  to  heaven.  '  Let  us,'  they  said, 
'  make  us  a  name,  lest  we  be  scattered  abroad 
upon  the  face  of  the  whole  earth ' ;  and  the 
followers  of  those  who  began  to  build  their  tower 
of  fame  on  the  plain  of  Shinar,  still  plant,  and 
build,  and  call  the  land  after  their  own  name,  for- 
getting that  here  they  have  '  no  continuing  city,' 
and  that  the  banner  of  worldly  pride  which  they 
vauntingly  display  is  unfurled  in  an  enemy's 
country,  and  that  at  any  moment  the  work  they 
have  begun  may  totter  and  fall. 


136  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

Other  divisions  of  the  army  are  content  to  gather 
the  flowers,  and  the  weeds  with  them,  that  grow  in 
their  path  •  and  so  subtle  are  the  attacks  of  the 
great  enemy  of  man  that  they  often  escape  the 
observation  of  these  easy  souls.  Endowed  with 
all  the  knowledge  and  power  of  an  Archangel, 
Satan  comes  forth  from  the  darkness  armed  with 
various  weapons.  To  all  who  range  themselves 
under  the  banner  of  the  Cross,  he  transforms  him- 
self into  an  angel  of  light,  using  different  devices 
to  turn  them  aside  from  the  strait  way  in  which 
their  Captain  walked. 

There  are  others  in  the  Great  Procession  who 
are  content  with  present  ease  and  luxury  ;  who 
wander  listlessly  on  into  the  future,  without  any 
definite  purpose;  taking  for  their  motto,  'Let 
us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die.'  No 
need  for  the  fallen  archangel  to  transform  him- 
self into  an  angel  of  light  in  order  to  deceive 
them.  The  sunlight  of  to-day  is  enough  for 
them,  and  in  that  light  they  stroll  about,  gather- 
ing while  the  morning  lasts  all  that  pleases  the 
|  senses  ;  but  even  at  noon  the  light  begins  to  grow 
dim  for  them,  and,  with  a  sigh  of  regret  that  the 
brightness  of  the  early  hours  has  faded,  that  all 
has  lost  its  freshness,  or  has  perished  in  the  using, 
they  begin  to  store  up  more  lasting  treasures,  gold 
and  silver,  and  precious  stones,  or  '  knowledge  that 
puffeth  up,'  without  elevating.    All  earth's  treasures, 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  137 

gathered  and  used  only  for  time  and  self,  without 
any  recognition  of  the  higher  part  of  man's  being, 
with  all  its  duties  and  responsibilities,  are  but 
barriers  which  shut  out  the  light  from  heaven ;  and 
all  who  are  satisfied  to  rest  behind  those  barriers  , 
are  far  away  from  the  Source  of  light.  It  is  only 
when  one  of  the  sleepers  is  aroused,  discovers  that 
he  is  groping  in  darkness,  and  raises  his  eyes  to 
catch  a  glimpse  of  a  brighter  world,  that  the  evil 
one  draws  near  to  tempt  him  to  close  his  eyes 
again,  and  take  his  rest.  Such  as  these  were  the 
people  whom  Moses  led  out  of  Egypt.  By  the 
power  and  might  of  the  Lord  the  children  of 
Israel  had  been  delivered  from  a  bondage  that  was 
too  heavy  for  them  to  bear.  Their  taskmasters 
had  been  slain  by  the  pestilence,  or  drowned  in 
the  Red  Sea,  and  danger  was  past.  They  had  but 
to  walk  through  the  wilderness  of  Shur,  hearkening 
diligently  to  the  voice  of  God,  who  spoke  by  Moses, 
in  order  to  reach  the  land  of  rest  and  promise. 
Stiffnecked  and  perverse,  however,  they  soon  proved 
to  be,  and  began  to  murmur — '  Would  to  God  we 
had  died  by  the  hand  of  the  Lord  in  the  land  of 
Egypt,  when  we  sat  by  the  flesh-pots,  and  when  we 
did  eat  bread  to  the  full. '  Faithless,  after  all  the 
wonders  which  had  been  wrought  for  their  deliver- 
ance, they  cried  out  to  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  said, 
■  Ye  have  brought  us  forth  into  this  wilderness,  to 
kill  this  whole  assembly  with  hunger.'     And  Moses 


138  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

said,  '  Your  murmurings  are  not  against  us,  but 
against  the  Lord.'  Being  merciful  and  gracious, 
long-suffering,  and  full  of  compassion  and  pity,  the 
Lord  answered  their  murmuring  with  a  blessing, 
1  Behold,  I  will  rain  bread  from  heaven  for  you, 
and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  your  God.' 
'  And  in  the  morning  the  dew  lay  round  about  the 
host ;  and  when  the  dew  that  lay  was  gone  up, 
behold,  upon  the  face  of  the  wilderness  there  lay 
a  small  round  thing,  as  small  as  the  hoar-frost  on 
the  ground.  And  when  the  children  of  Israel  saw 
it,  they  said  one  to  another,  It  is  a  portion  ;  for 
they  knew  not  what  it  was.  And  Moses  said  unto 
them,  This  is  the  bread  which  the  Lord  hath  given 
you  to  eat.' 

Thus  has  the  great  Father  ever  dealt  with  man 
from  the  beginning,  yet  man  still  provokes  Him 
every  day.  Man  is  ever  changing,  but,  in  majestic 
silence,  the  unchangeable  God  develops  His  will, 
and  unfolds  His  plan,  for  the  salvation  of  man  ; 
and  the  records  of  the  past,  and  a  careful  observa- 
tion of  the  present,  alike  bear  witness  to  the  fact 
that  is  embodied  in  the  words,  'History  repeats 
itself.'  There  is  the  inevitable  fate  of  nations 
typefied  in  the  individual  life  of  each  man  ;  the 
rise  and  fall  of  one,  the  youth  and  old  age  of  the 
other.  There  is  no  standing  still,  even  for  a 
moment,  although  there  is  often  a  seeming  pause 
in  the  working  of  the  fixed,  but  ever  active  laws 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  139 

which  govern  the  universe.  There  is  what  is  called 
the  prime  of  man's  life,  when  the  physical  part  of 
his  being  has  ceased  to  grow,  and  when  the  unseen 
ripening  of  nature  goes  on  until  full  maturity  is 
reached;  and  then,  unseen,  the  slow,  sure  deca- 
dence begins,  the  end  of  which  is  death.  So  also 
it  is  with  nations.  They  have  small  beginnings  : 
each  rises  as  an  oak  does  from  the  acorn  ;  each 
increases  in  might  and  power,  and  knowledge,  and 
dominion,  until  the  highest  point  is  attained,  and 
then,  as  surely  as  a  mountaineer  when  he  has 
reached  the  greatest  altitude  has  to  descend  to 
the  common  level,  the  downward  course  begins. 
This  law  of  progression  and  retrogression  is  uni- 
versal ;  but  among  '  all  the  changes  and  chances 
of  this  mortal  life  '  God's  servants  have  ever  found 
strength  and  rest,  and  peace,  in  the  unchangeable- 
ness  of  Him  who  fed  His  rebellious  children  in 
the  wilderness  with  the  manna  that  was  typical 
of  that  bread  from  heaven,  with  which  we  are  fed 
in  the  Blessed  Sacrament  of  the  altar.  The  bread 
from  heaven  that  was  given  to  the  Israelites 
nourished  the  mortal  body.  The  bread  which  God 
gave  in  later  days  gives  life  to  the  soul.  Just  as 
the  bond  between  us  and  the  first  Adam  is  our 
fleshly  descent,  so  the  bond  between  us  and  the 
second  Adam  is  in  the  two  great  sacraments  of 
Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper.  By  Baptism  we 
are  grafted  into  the  Vine — the  Living  Vine — and 


I 


i4o  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

thus,  mystically,  each  becomes  a  living  branch,  a 
child  of  God,  a  member  of  Christ,  and  an  heir  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  By  the  Eucharist,  our 
union  with  Him  who  said,  'I  am  the  Bread  of 
Life,'  is  sustained  and  strengthened,  for  when 
Jesus  said  to  His  disciples,  '  I  am  that  Bread  of 
Life,'  He  added,  '  Your  fathers  did  eat  manna  in 
the  wilderness,  and  are  dead.  This  is  the  Bread 
which  cometh  down  from  heaven,  that  a  man  may 
eat  thereof,  and  not  die.' 

None  will  know,  until  the  day  dawns  when  all 
secrets  shall  be  revealed,  what  an  increase  of 
spiritual  vitality  is  given  to  each  faithful  worshipper 
at  the  Eucharist :  none  can  measure  the  extent  of 
the  loss  which  all  who  will  not  receive  the  Bread 
of  Life  must  sustain.  The  unseen  is  not  yet  un- 
veiled ;  but  when  man  considers  the  emblem,  and 
what  were  the  results  of  not  gathering  the  manna 
in  the  wilderness — where  no  other  food  to  sustain 
animal  life  was  to  be  had — to  the  Hebrews,  he 
cannot  escape  from  the  conclusion,  that  refusing  to 
eat  the  'Living  Bread,'  that  comes  down  from 
heaven  at  every  celebration  of  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment, must  have  an  awful  effect  upon  his  spiritual 
and  immortal  life.  In  the  strength  which  the  Bread 
of  Life  gives,  man  may  make  giant-strides  in  the 
spiritual  life;  but  without  spiritual  food  how  can 
the  spirit  of  man  grow  ?  One  of  the  saddest  sights 
the  sun  shines  upon  is  that  of  a  human  being  choos- 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  141 

ing  evil  and  refusing  good  ;  living  for  the  things  of i 
time,  and  giving  no  thought  to  the  things  of  eternity. 
The  history  of  the  children  of  Israel  was  written 
for  man's  learning ;  and  from  first  to  last  it  is,  in  a 
general  way,  typical  of  national  and  individual  life. 
The  descendants  of  Jacob  became  slaves  and  bond- 
men in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  burdens  were  laid 
upon  them  which  were  greater  than    they   could 
bear.     In  the  midst  of  all  the  wealth  and  glory  of 
Egypt,    the    sons    and    daughters    of    Israel   were 
trodden    in    the    dust;  and   all    the  learning   and 
wisdom  of  the  Egyptians  only  seemed  to  harden 
their  hearts  against  these  Hebrew  slaves.     Never- 
theless Israelites  continued  to  multiply,  according 
to  the  word  of  the  Lord,  who  had  appeared  unto 
their  forefather  Abram,  when  he  was  ninety  and 
nine  years  old,  and  when  Isaac,  the  son  of  promise, 
was  not,  and  said  unto  him,  '  I  am  the  Almighty 
God  ;  walk  before  Me,  and  be  thou  perfect.     And 
I  will  make  My  covenant  between  Me  and  thee, 
and  will  multiply  thee  exceedingly.     As  for  Me, 
behold,  My  covenant  is  with  thee,  and  thou  shalt 
be  a  father  of  a  multitude  of  nations.     Neither 
shall  thy  name  any  more  be  called  Abram,  but 
thy  name  shall  be  Abraham  ;  for  a  father  of  many 
nations  have  I  made  thee.     And  I  will  make  thee 
exceeding  fruitful,  and  I  will  make  nations  of  thee, 
and   kings   shall  come  out  of  thee.     And  I  will 
establish  My  covenant  between  Me  and  thee  and 


142  THE  SUPERNATURAL 


thy  seed  after  thee  in  their  generations  for  an  ever- 
lasting covenant,  to  be  a  God  unto  thee  and  to  thy 
seed  after  thee.  And  I  will  give  unto  thee,  and  to 
thy  seed  after  thee,  the  land  of  thy  sojournings,  all 
the  land  of  Canaan,  for  an  everlasting  possession, 
and  I  will  be  their  God.'  And  the  word  of  the 
Lord  was  fulfilled.  As  time  rolled  on  the  Israelites 
increased  abundantly,  and  'waxed  exceeding 
mighty,'  and  the  land  of  Egypt  was  filled  with  them. 
And  the  king  of  Egypt  saw  that  the  children  of 
the  captivity  were  more  in  numbers  and  mightier 
than  the  Egyptians,  and  he  ordered  the  task- 
masters to  afflict  them  :  but  the  more  they  afflicted 
them  the  more  they  multiplied  and  grew,  until 
Pharaoh  in  fear  and  wrath  commanded  that  all 
the  men-children  should  be  destroyed  as  soon  as 
they  were  born.  Then  it  was  that  God  Himself 
came  to  their  rescue.  He  heard  their  groaning, 
and  remembered  His  covenant  with  Abraham,  with 
Isaac,  and  with  Jacob  ;  and  He  raised  up  Moses  to 
deliver  them  from  bondage,  and  lead  them  forth 
out  of  Egypt. 

Marvellous  are  the  revelations  of  superhuman 
power,  bringing  about  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy, 
and  the  accomplishment  of  God's  designs,  in  the 
history  of  the  Hebrew  nation.  God's  will  is 
supreme.  His  will  was  that  Israel's  children  should 
dwell  in  Canaan,  and  become  a  great  nation, 
innumerable  as  the  stars,  or  the  sand  upon  the  sea- 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  143 

shore.     He  did  not  show  Himself  unto  Pharaoh ; 

He  worked  through  Moses  :  and  so  it  came  to  pass 

that  one  man,  and  he   one  of  the   captive   race, 

confronted  the    might    of   Egypt,    and   triumphed 

gloriously.     Well  might  Moses  ask,   'Who  ami, 

that  I  should  go  unto  Pharaoh,  and  that  I  should 

bring  forth  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  Egypt  ?' 

God  had  called  him  by  name,  and  appeared  unto 

him  on  Mount  Horeb,  and  said,  '  I  am  the  God. of 

thy  father,  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac, 

and  the  God  of  Jacob.     I  have  surely  seen  the 

affliction  of  my  people  which  are  in  Egypt,  and 

have  heard  their  cry  by  reason  of  their  task-masters, 

for  I  know  their  sorrows ;  and  I  am  come  down  to 

deliver  them  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Egyptians, 

and  to  bring  them  out  of  that  land  unto  a  good 

land  and  a  large,  unto  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and 

honey.     Come  now,  therefore,  and  I  will  send  thee 

unto  Pharaoh,  that  thou   mayest  bring  forth   My 

people,  the  children  of  Israel,  out  of  Egypt'    Who 

would  not  fall  down  and  hide  his  face,  and  be 

afraid,  and  cry,  as  Moses  did,  'Who  am  I  that  I 

should  go  unto  Pharaoh,  and  that  I  should  bring 

forth  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  Egypt?'     But 

God  answered  him,  '  Certainly  I  will  be  with  thee.' 

In  the  unseen  presence  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts  with 

Moses  was  all-sufficient  strength.    When  His  arm  is 

stretched  out  to  save  or  to  destroy,  none  can  resist. 

'Go,'  said  the  Almighty  to    His  chosen  servant, 


144  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

1  Go,  and  gather  the  elders  of  Israel  together,  and 
say  unto  them,  The  Lord  God  of  your  fathers,  the 
God  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob,  appeared 
unto  me,  saying,  I  have  surely  visited  you,  and 
seen  that  which  is  done  to  you  in  Egypt ;  and  I 
have  said  I  will  bring  you  up  out  of  the  affliction 
of  Egypt  unto  a  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey  : 
and  they  shall  hearken  to  thy  voice,  and  thou  shalt 
come,  thou  and  the  elders  of  Israel  unto  the  king 
of  Egypt,  and  ye  shall  say  unto  him,  The  Lord  God 
of  the  Hebrews  hath  met  with  us  :  and  now  let  us 
go,  we  beseech  thee,  three  days'  journey  into  the 
wilderness,  that  we  may  sacrifice  to  the  Lord  our 
God.  And  I  am  sure  that  the  king  of  Egypt  will 
not  let  you  go,  but  by  a  strong  hand.  And  I  will 
stretch  out  My  hand,  and  smite  Egypt  with  all  My 
wonders  which  I  will  do  in  the  midst  thereof :  and 
after  that  he  will  let  you  go.'  Still  Moses  feared, 
and  said,  '  But,  behold,  they  will  not  believe  me, 
nor  hearken  unto  my  voice  :  for  they  will  say,  The 
Lord  hath  not  appeared  unto  thee.'  And  God,  full 
of  love  and  compassion,  vouchsafed  signs  to 
strengthen  His  servant's  faith.  But  again  Moses 
faltered,  and  said,  '  O  my  Lord,  I  am  not  eloquent, 
neither  heretofore,  nor  since  thou  hast  spoken  unto 
Thy  servant :  but  I  am  slow  of  speech,  and  of  a 
slow  tongue.'  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  'Who 
hath  made  man's  mouth?  or  who  maketh  the 
dumb,  or  deaf,  or  the  seeing,  or  the  blind  ?  Have 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  145 

not  I  the  Lord?  Now,  therefore,  go,  and  I  will 
be  with  thy  mouth,  and  teach  thee  what  thou  shalt 
say.'  Even  this  was  not  enough,  and  once  more 
Moses  trembled  and  feared,  not  realizing  that  he 
was  but  the  favoured  instrument  in  God's  hand  for 
accomplishing  the  great  work  set  before  him.  And 
he  said  '  O  my  Lord,  send,  I  pray  thee,  by  the  hand 
of  him  whom  Thou  shouldest  send.  And  the  anger 
of  the  Lord  was  kindled  against  Moses ;  and  he 
said,  Is  not  Aaron  the  Levite  thy  brother?  I 
know  that  he  can  speak  well.  And  thou  shalt  speak 
unto  him,  and  put  words  in  his  mouth  :  and  I  will 
be  with  thy  mouth  and  with  his  mouth,  and  will 
teach  you  what  ye  shall  do.  And  he  shall  be  thy 
spokesman  unto  the  people  :  and  he  shall  be,  even 
he  shall  be  to  thee  instead  of  a  mouth,  and  thou 
shalt  be  to  him  instead  of  God.' 

The  king  of  Egypt  withstood  Moses ;  for  he 
knew  not  that  One  greater  than  all  the  gods  of 
Egypt  was  present  with  him.  Plague  after  plague 
was  brought  upon  the  land,  yet  the  king  hardened 
his  heart,  and  not  until  all  the  first-born  of  the 
Egyptians,  from  the  first-born  of  Pharaoh  that  sat 
upon  the  throne,  unto  the  first-born  of  the  captive 
that  was  in  the  dungeon,  lay  dead,  did  the  proud 
monarch  of  Egypt  call  for  Moses  and  Aaron,  and 
bid  them  '  Rise  up,  and  go  forth  from  among  the 
Egyptians.'  If  no  unseen  Power  had  been  direct- 
ing and   overruling    all,    why    should   a    Pharaoh 

10 


146  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

endure  the  presence  of  Moses,  and  parley  with  him 
about  his  slaves  and  bondmen  ?  Slaves  are  always 
unarmed,  and,  therefore,  numerous  as  were  the 
Hebrews,  they  were,  humanly  speaking,  powerless 
in  the  land  of  their  captivity,  surrounded  as  they 
were  by  their  captors,  the  mightiest  warriors  in  the 
world,  and  unmatched  in  discipline  and  power. 

It  was  a  great  deliverance  that  was  wrought, 
apparently  by  Moses ;  as  in  after  years  another 
great  victory  was  gained  by  a  youth  with  a  sling 
and  a  stone ;  and  as  in  modern  days  England  owes 
her  greatness  and  her  vast  dominions  to  the  genius 
of  her  Saxon  King,  Alfred.  And  the  world  says 
that  '  chance,'  or  '  a  favourable  combination  of  cir- 
cumstances,' or  'causes  which  could  be  easily 
explained,  if  we  had  the  means  of  ascertaining  all 
the  facts,  brought  about  these  results  which  appear 
to  be  so  wonderful,  but  are  in  themselves  only  the 
natural  outcome  of  the  exercise  of  man's  power  and 
free  will.'  These  are  some  of  man's  sophisms  ;  the 
vague,  unscientific  propositions  which  are  put  forth 
by  men  who  pride  themselves  upon  believing  no 
more  than  they  can  see  and  understand.  Ask  them 
how  they  know  that  they  are  living  men,  and  they 
would  probably  say  that  reason  assured  them  of 
the  fact.  But  we  cannot  reason  about  a  thing  that 
is  not ;  we  must  have  reason  before  we  can  use  it ; 
and  the  perception  of  that  fact,  a  knowledge  of  the 
possession  of  reason,  is   a  passive   act   of    faith. 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  \\7 

Faith  is  the  gift  of  God,  we  are  distinctly  told  ;  and 
because  it  is  His  gift,  and  because  of  its  inesti- 
mable value,  as  the  foundation  on  which  all  good 
works  must  be  built  up  in  order  to  be  acceptable  to 
God — for  we  must  believe  in  Him  before  we  can 
love  and  serve  Him — the  author  of  evil  uses  all 
these  delusions  to  blind  man  to  the  truth.  Well 
he  knows  from  his  own  experience  how  subtle  is 
the  influence  of  the  pride  of  intellect ;  and  how 
easy  and  natural  it  is  to  man  in  his  fallen  state  to 
elevate  reason  into  the  place  of  Him  who  bestowed 
it  upon  man  :  and,  therefore,  to  minds  of  the  highest 
order,  Satan  hides  from  view  the  grosser  forms  of 
evil,  and  works  at  undermining  faith  in  the  Author 
and  Giver  of  all  good.  But  Hope,  one  of  the  / 
brightest  stars  in  the  firmament  of  Earth,  shines  ! 
clear  and  steady,  and  is  more  lustrous  when  the  ! 
night  is  darkest. 

The  evil  which  we  know  exists,  and  which  has 
some  mysterious  connection  with  the  exercise  of 
free  will,  is  allowed  by  God  to  develop  all  its 
hideous  deformity  and  to  injure  mankind,  not  with 
a  view  to  its  final  destruction,  but  for  its  ultimate 
good.  God's  ways  are  past  finding  out ;  but  His 
plan  of  salvation  has  been  declared.  Sin,  and 
death  which  is  the  result  of  sin,  are  to  be  destroyed. 
The  sinner  is  to  be  saved  by  the  power  of  the  great 
Sacrifice,  God  Himself  taking  our  flesh  as  a  veil, 
and  in  that  flesh  dying  for  man.     All  this  is  matter 


148  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

of  history  to  us.     The  salvation  of  man  has  been 
accomplished.     '  It  is  finished,'  and  in  the  light  of 
fulfilled  prophecy,  and  of  historical  evidence,  the 
sinfulness  of  that  want  of  faith  which  excited  God's 
anger  against  Moses  is  small,  indeed,  compared 
with  the  sin  of  this  age.     When  we  read  of  the  task 
that  was  set  before  Moses,  and  think  of  its  vastness, 
and  of  the  weakness  of  the  instrument  that  was  to 
be  used  for  its  accomplishment  :  when  we  realize 
that   the  work    was  to    be   done   in    an    enemy's 
country,  and  that  all  the  power  of  the  king  and  of 
a  great  nation  were  arrayed  against  the  one  man 
who  was  called  by  the  unseen  King  of  kings  to 
stand  before  Pharaoh,  and  demand  the  release  of 
the  builders  of  the  treasure-cities  ;  then — as  we  look 
around  and  see  the  'little  faith  '  which  only  seems  to 
flicker  in  this  our  day  of  grace — we  cease  to  wonder 
at  Moses  losing  heart  and  entreating  God  to  send 
another  to  do  the  work.     In  a  later  period  of  man's 
history  another  servant  of  God  besought  the  Lord 
for  relief  from  pain,  and  he  was  told,  •  My  grace  is 
sufficient  for  thee ;  for  My  strength  is  made  perfect 
in  weakness.'     When  Moses  did  '  put  his  hand  to 
the  plough  '  he  became  one  of   the  most   signal 
.  examples  of  the  way  in  which  the  natural  man  can 
be    sustained  by  the  Divine    Power.      The   great 
P  exodus  from  Egypt,  and  all  the  wonders  which  pre- 
ceded it,  were  wrought  by  the  Divine  Power  work- 
ing through  Moses.     The  passage  of  the  Red  Sea 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  149 

completed  the  deliverance  of  the  Hebrews,  and 
then  followed  the  forty  years  of  wandering  in  the 
wilderness.  It  is  a  sad  and  humiliating  story,  one 
of  murmuring  idolatry  and  rebellion  on  the  part  of 
man  :  one  of  patient  forbearance,  long-suffering 
and  forgiveness,  with  just,  yet  loving,  retribution  and 
punishment  of  sin  on  the  part  of  God. 

We  are  all  too  prone  to  regard  the  lives  of  the  men 
and  women  of  Holy  Scripture  as  quite  different 
to  our  own  lives ;  the  actors  in  the  scenes  that 
are  sketched  do  not  seem  to  be  really  like  the 
men  and  women  of  all  the  ages.  But  surely  the 
men  and  women  of  old  time  would  be  such  as 
we  are  if  they  were  living  now ;  and  we  should  have 
been  like  them,  and  have  done  very  much  as  they 
did,  if  we  had  lived  in  their  time.  God  made 
man  upright.  When  by  reason  of  sin  man  lost 
his  uprightness  he  became  subject  to  changes ; 
the  conditions  of  his  life  were  altered.  The  more 
he  allowed  sin  to  reign  over  him  the  more  confu- 
sion and  disorder  prevailed  ;  the  farther  he  de- 
parted from  the  counsels  of  God  the  less  able  he 
became  to  govern  himself  wisely  and  with  due  self- 
control  ;  the  less  able  he  was  either  to  obey  those 
who  had  the  earthly  rule  over  him,  or  to  be  content 
with  that  state  of  life  in  which  God  had  placed  him. 
The  oldest  records  of  the  past,  and  the  state  of  the 
world  at  the  present  moment,  demonstrate  this  fact ; 
and  if  we    follow  the   stream  of  history  from  its 


i5o  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

source  until  we  reach  the  stormy  sea  on  which  man 
is  now  sailing— talking  of  peace  while  preparing 
for  war;  preaching  righteousness  and  working 
iniquity;  boasting  of  civilization  and  refinement, 
while  the  few  have  the  wealth  of  Crcesus  and  the 
many  are  starving  and  helpless,  some  dying  like 
dogs  within  a  stone's-throw  of  gorgeous  palaces — 
we  shall  find  that  it  has  always  been  the  same,  and 
that  it  will  be  so  to  the  end  of  time  ;  for,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  laws  which  govern  the  universe  are  as 
unchangeable  as  the  God  who  made  them.  If  we 
bear  in  mind  that  man  is  man,  and  can  be  neither 
more  nor  less  than  man,  whether  he  be  cultured  as , 
a  Plato  or  degraded  as  a  savage ;  that  he  was  made 
a  free-agent,  and  that  evil  has  dogged  his  steps  from 
the  beginning,  we  shall  more  clearly  understand 
the  records  of  sacred  and  profane  history,  and  the 
life  of  the  Hebrews  in  the  wilderness. 

During  the  centuries  that  elapsed  from  the  time 
when  Joseph  ruled  in  Egypt,  the  descendants  of 
Israel  must  (this  is  suggested  by  the  episode  of  the 
golden  calves)  have  partly  lost  faith  in  the  God  of 
Israel,  and  adopted  something  of  the  idolatrous 
worship  of  Egypt.  They  received  the  law  of  God 
from  Moses  as  we  receive  it  from  the  'Holy 
Catholic  Church;'  and,  as  many  members  of  Christ's 
body  do  now,  regarding  the  Church  as  merely  a 
human  institution,  whose  laws  and  teaching  may 
be  accepted  or  rejected  at  pleasure,  they  failed  to 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  151 

see  beyond  the  veil,  and  to  acknowledge  God  in 
Moses ;   they  did   as    men    do    now,    condemned 
His  action  and  rebelled  against  His  authority.    The 
result  of  all  their  sin  and  disobedience  was  that  out 
of  the  great  multitude  of  free  men  who  came  from 
Egypt,  only  two  survived  to  enter  the  Promised 
Land.    All  the  others  died  in  the  wilderness.     But 
what  an  inglorious  ending  to  the  march  that  was 
commenced  in  the  land  of  the  Pharaohs  was  the 
death  of  one  after  another  of  that  long  procession 
in  the  wilderness  !     What  a  sad  ending  of  life  in 
this  world  is  indicated  by  the  words,  '  Many  are 
called,    but    few   are   chosen.'      Only    eight   were 
saved  when  the  flood  came,  and  the  waters  covered 
the   earth.      Only    one  family   escaped   from   the 
doomed   cities    of    the   plain,    the    rest   perished. 
History  tells  of  great  nations,  and  of  their  kings 
and  mighty  men  of  valour,  who  have  long  since 
passed  away ;   and  ruined   monuments  that  were 
raised  thousands  of  years  ago  testify  still  to  the  lofty 
conceptions  of  the  designers,  and  the  cultured  skill 
of  the  workmen,  but  remain  only  to  attest  the  truth 
of  the  saying,  '  There  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun.' 
The  greatest  empires  and  kingdoms  of  the  world 
have  risen  and  fallen  ;  and  the  countless  genera- 
tions of  men  who  thought  and  worked  and  toiled 
as    men   do    now,  who  gathered  and  stored  vast 
treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge,  or  who  fought 
for   their    country    and   their  king   as   bravely  as 


152  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

the  sons  of  Britain  fight  for  the  honour  of  England 
to-day,  are  all  gone,  vanished  from  mortal  sight. 
Through  successive  ages  the  verdict  of  history- 
is  the  same — but  few  are  ever  found  walking  in 
the  narrow  way ;  the  many  are  in  the  broad  road. 
Not  ten  righteous  men  were  to  be  found  in  Sodom. 
Not  many  righteous  kings  ruled  over  God's  chosen 
people.  The  true  prophets  of  God  who  were  sent 
to  warn  men  of  coming  punishment  if  they  con- 
tinued to  rebel  against  the  laws  of  God  were 
persecuted,  imprisoned,  and  afflicted  :  others  pro- 
phesied falsely,  and  '  the  people  loved  to  have  it 
so.'  Each  great  national  history  has  its  good  king, 
its  Daniel,  and  its  apostle  of  truth ;  but  of  the 
vast  majority  it  seems  to  be  written  :  '  they  are 
weighed  in  the  balance  and  found  wanting.' 

There  is  no  material  difference,  except  that  which 
diversity  of  taste  and  changing  circumstances  make, 
between  the  people  of  ancient  Tyre,  or  Capernaum, 
and  the  wealthy  inhabitants  of  the  cities  of  modern 
Europe.  There  is  the  same  costly  magnificence  in 
their  attire,  and  in  the  adornment  of  their  palaces ; 
the  same  pride  of  life  ;  the  same  careless  ease  and 
love  of  the  world ;  and  the  same  immorality. 
Where  one  searches  for  and  finds  the  '  Pearl  of 
great  price,'  and  stretches  forth  hand  and  heart  to 
grasp  it,  thousands  are  content  to  possess  a  few 
poor  pearls  of  present  self-pleasing.  Where  one 
strives  for  the  'laurel  crown,' thousands  are  con- 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  153 

tent  to  wear  wreaths  of  flowers  that  fade  well-nigh 
as  soon  as  gathered.  Where  one  soldier  fights  for 
God  and  the  right,  thousands  lay  aside  their 
armour  and  live  at  ease.  Is  then,  the  vast  army 
lost  ?  Is  the  hand  of  the  Lord  shortened  that  it 
cannot  save  ?  Is  the  standard  of  victory  snatched 
from  the  hand  of  the  Captain  of  our  salvation  in 
the  final  loss  of  the  great  majority?  If  so,  heaven 
will  be  thinly  peopled,  and  some  of  the  many 
mansions  prepared  for  the  children  of  men  in  the 
kingdom  of  their  Father  will  be  empty  :  and  the 
God-man  will  have  few  of  those  whom  He  has 
made  brothers  and  sisters,  by  taking  human  flesh 
and  dwelling  among  them,  with  Him  in  His  home 
above.  Has  God  cast  off  the  great  multitude  of 
those  whom  He  delivered  from  Egyptian  bondage 
for  ever  ?  Are  the  wanderers  never  to  reach  home, 
never  to  find  a  place  of  rest  ?  Are  all  the  Jews 
who  have  lived  with  the  veil  upon  their  hearts 
during  the  past  nineteen  centuries,  thus  demon- 
strating the  truth  of  prophecy,  and  proclaiming  by 
their  continued  existence  as  a  separate  nation,  that 
God  rules  on  earth,  and  shapes  the  destiny  of  men, 
to  be  lost?  Are  only  those  who  shall  be  alive  when 
Christ  once  more  stands  upon  Mount  Zion  to  be 
converted  and  saved  ?  The  prayer  of  the  dying 
Saviour  gives  the  answer.  '  Father,  forgive  them, 
for  they  know  not  what  they  do.'  '  As  in  Adam 
all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive.' 


154  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

1  At  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  shall  bow,  of 
things  in  heaven,  and  things  in  earth,  and  things 
under  the  earth  ;  and  every  tongue  shall  confess 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord  to  the  glory  of  God  the 
Father.'  '  All  that  go  down  to  the  dust  shall  bow 
before  Him.'  '  All  the  ends  of  the  world  shall 
remember  and  turn  unto  the  Lord  ;  and  all  the 
kindreds  of  the  nations  shall  worship  before  Him. 
For  the  kingdom  is  the  Lord's,  and  He  is  the 
Governor  among  the  nations.'  These  are  precious 
promises  ;  most  assuring  to  all  who  mourn  over 
the  backslidings  of  men,  and  think  of  the  millions 
who  are  born  into  this  world,  and  leave  it  without 
having  heard  of  a  Redeemer.  These  promises  are 
so  boundless  and  unqualified  that  faith  grows 
stronger,  and  hope  brighter,  as  we  meditate  upon 
them.  Man  needs  hope  as  well  as  faith,  to  save 
him  from  despair,  and  God  has  given  both,  as  He 
ever  has  given  to  His  children  all  that  is  good  for 
them  in  the  varying  circumstances  of  their  transi- 
tory life.  It  is  impossible  for  the  finite  mind  to 
realize  all  the  evil  that  has  sprung  since  Eve's  in- 
clinations developed  into  a  deliberate  act  of  re- 
bellion. But  that  act  and  its  consequences  have 
fixed  on  the  hearts  of  men  the  convictions  of  the 
infinite  patience  of  God,  who,  century  after  century 
bears  with  evil,  and  overrules  it  for  the  sinner's 
highest  and  lasting  good.  Who  that  has  sinned, 
and    suffered,   and    learned    in    the  experience  of 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  155 

suffering  to  know  himself,  can  fail  to  realize  that, 
but  for  the  knowledge  of  evil,  he  could  not  have 
realized  what  goodness  is.  The  more  the  sinless 
life  of  the  Crucified  is  studied,  the  clearer  all  truth 
becomes.  The  world,  and  the  world's  knowledge, 
teach  us  nothing  of  the  mystery  of  sin  and  suffer- 
ing. Christ's  life  teaches  us  enough  to  enable  us 
to  know  that,  in  the  end,  greater  good  to  mankind 
will  come  through  evil,  than  if  evil  had  not  existed. 
This  comes  as  a  clear  revelation  to  a  believer  in 
Christ :  while  the  atheist  uses  the  existence  of  pain 
and  evil  as  his  strongest  argument  against  the 
existence  of  God.  The  cruelty,  hypocrisy,  reck- 
less waste,  selfishness,  pride,  with  their  attendant 
evils,  allowed,  perpetuated,  transmitted  from  parents 
to  children  :  the  innocent  suffering  for  the  guilty  : 
the  souls  and  bodies  of  one  generation  after 
another  injured,  marred,  and  distorted  by  the 
sins  of  their  forefathers — are  proofs  to  the  Atheist 
of  the  truth  of  his  theory  :  and  if  this  world  were 
all,  if  there  were  no  Incomprehensible,  if  the 
atheist's  premises  were  correct,  his  conclusion,  as 
a  reasonable  being  using  his  reason,  is  inevitable. 
Thank  God,  all  false  theories  are  to  disappear 
some  day,  as  mist  does  before  the  rising  sun. 

No  paean  was  ever  raised  in  a  world  of  sin  and 
death  that  was  so  welcome  as  this,  '  Jesus  came  to 
seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost.'  Not  on 
earth  only  was  the  proclamation  made.     Straight 


156  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

from  the  crucified  body  which  Jesus  had  taken  of 
the  ever-blessed  Virgin  Mary,  to  offer  as  a  sacrifice 
for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  He  went  'to 
preach  to  the  spirits  in  prison  ' ;  to  all  who  had 
failed  by  reason  of  sin  to  find  the  '  narrow  way  ' 
on  earth  :  to  those  of  whom  Christ  said,  '  It  shall 
be  more  tolerable  for  Tyre  and  Sidon  at  the  day  of 
judgment '  than  for  Chorazin  and  Bethsaida  ;  '  For,' 
said  the  Lord,  to  the  cities  wherein  most  of  His 
mighty  works  were  done,  '  if  the  mighty  works 
which  were  done  in  you  had  been  done  in  Tyre 
and  Sidon,  they  would  have  repented  long  ago  in 
sackcloth  and  ashes.'  Those  words  give  us  clear 
spiritual  insight  of  the  unseen  world.  When  they  were 
spoken  by  Christ,  He  had  not  been  seen  in  Hades, 
therefore,  '  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  God  as 
seen  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,'  had  not  shined 
upon  its  inhabitants.  For  long  centuries  the  great 
majority  of  the  descendants  of  Adam  had  been  in 
Hades  ;  and  from  what  St.  Peter  tells  us  of  Christ, 
that  ■  He  was  put  to  death  in  the  flesh ;  but 
quickened  in  the  spirit '  (the  human  spirit),  we  have 
sure  ground  for  believing  that  when  the  soul  of 
man  enters  the  spirit-world,  there  is  an  increase  of 
spiritual  vitality ;  and  with  the  increase  of  spiritual 
vitality,  there  must  be  a  fuller  operation  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Hence  it  follows  that  the  work  of 
the  third  Person  of  the  Blessed  Trinity  is  not  con- 
fined to  earth,  and  bound  by  the  measuring  line  of 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  157 

time ;  its  sphere  is  the  spirit-world,  and  it  is  He, 
who  is  to  abide  with  us  for  ever,  who  builds  up 
and  enlightens  the  spiritual  body  in  which  we  shall 
dwell  through  eternity.     There  is  but  one  Gospel : 
and   when   the   Lord   Jesus    had    preached    that 
Gospel  on  earth,  He  went  to  preach  the  same  in 
Hades  ;  and,  bearing  in  mind  that  the  flesh  wars 
against   the    spirit,    can    it   be    doubted   that   the 
Lord's  teaching  in  the  world  of  spirits  had  grander 
immediate  results  than  His  teaching  in  this  world 
had  ?    '  And  thou,  Capernaum,'  the  blessed  Saviour 
said,    '  which   art    exalted   unto   heaven,   shalt   be 
brought  down   to  hell :  for   if   the   mighty  works 
which  have  been  done  in  thee  had  been  done  in 
Sodom,   it  would  have  remained   until   this  day. 
But  I  say  unto  you,  that  it  shall  be  more  tolerable 
for  the  land  of  Sodom  in  the  day  of  judgment, 
than    for  thee.'     Yes,  for  justice  and   mercy  are 
equally  balanced  by  the  King  of  kings,  and  Caper- 
naum sinned  against  clearer  light  than  shone  upon 
Sodom.     It  is  written,  '  The  truth  shall  make  you 
free,'  and  when  the  Son  of  God  entered  Hades, 
He  did  not  go  to  tell  the  prisoners  that  they  were 
lost  for  ever,  and  that  on  the  awful  day  when  each 
one  would  be  punished  or  rewarded  according  to 
the  deeds  done  in  the  body,  the  once  lost  soul 
would  not  be  received  by  the  Father,  when  it  had 
become  purified  through  the  fiery  chastisement  of 
God's  wrath  against  sin.     He  had  just  laid  down 


158  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

His  life  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world ;  and  He 
went  to  Hades  to  teach  the  wanderers  and  the  dis- 
obedient of  earlier  days  the  lessons  which  He  had 
been  teaching  on  earth  ;  and  to  tell  them  of  a  land 
of  light,  and  love,  and  rest  from  sin,  which  He  had 
purchased  for  them  ;  and  that  He  was  'the  Way, 
the  Truth,  and  the  Life  ' :  the  One  who  had  come 
down  from  heaven  to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost : 
who  had  uttered  the  omnipotent  cry  from  the  Cross, 
'  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they 
do.'  Not  till  the  last  man  to  be  saved  is  saved 
can  those  words  cease  to  vibrate  on  the  Father's 
ear :  never  can  they  fail  to  give  hope  to  the  sinner ; 
for  heaven  and  earth  may  pass  away,  but  God's 
words  shall  not  pass  away.  Nevertheless,  all  must 
stand  before  the  Judgment-throne,  each  to  receive 
the  due  reward  of  His  sins  ;  and  if  for  every  idle 
word  '  man  shall  have  to  give  account,'  how  much 
sorer  punishment  awaits  those  who  only  did  evil 
continually  during  their  mortal  life  ? 

Just  as  one  star  differeth  from  another  star  in 
glory ;  just  as  every  thought,  and  word,  and  deed, 
leaves  its  impress  upon  the  spirit  of  man,  and,  like 
a  good  or  bad  mark  in  school,  has  its  positive 
result  in  determining  not  only  reward  or  loss  of 
something  but  the  amount  of  gain  or  loss — so 
man's  faith  and  works  on  earth  decide  his  position 
in  the  next  stage  of  existence.  'Whatsoever  a 
man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap.'     He  sows  on 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  159 

earth,  as  He  moves  on  in  the  Great  Procession 
towards  the  border-land,  where  he  is  stripped  of  his 
working  dress,  the  material  substance  of  his  flesh, 
which  he  leaves  to  be  buried  ;  while  he,  in  the 
divinely-fashioned  form  in  which  lies  his  identity, 
goes  to  the  spirit-world  ;  it  may  be,  to  be  at  peace 
in  '  Abraham's  bosom  ' ;  it  may  be  to  join  the  dis- 
obedient, in  the  region  where  remorse,  and  the 
recollection  of  lost  opportunities  and  acts  of  wilful, 
unrepented  sin,  will  be  his  portion  of  torment ;  or 
it  may  be  to  join  those  who  are  to  be  beaten  with 
few  stripes,  because  they  knew  not  their  Lord's 
will. 

The  infinite  pity  of  the  Good  Shepherd  for  His 
lost  sheep  was  manifested  when  He  taught  in 
parables ;  so  that  those  who  could  not  bear  the 
full  light  of  truth  should  not  see  what,  if  rejected, 
would  increase  their  condemnation.  But  when 
knowledge  of  the  written  word  of  God  had  kindled 
light,  which,  but  for  wilful  blindness,  would  have 
enabled  man  to  see  in  Christ  the  fulfilment  of 
Messianic  prophecy,  Jesus  said,  '  The  men  of 
Nineveh  shall  rise  in  judgment  with  this  generation, 
and  shall  condemn  it ;  because  they  repented  at 
the  preaching  of  Jonas ;  and,  behold,  a  greater 
than  Jonas  is  here.'  With  what  adoring  love  and 
gratitude  must  the  men  of  Nineveh  have  welcomed 
Him  of  whom  Jonas  was  a  type !  What  a  wave 
of  light  must  have  flooded  Hades,  when  the  '  Light 


160  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

that  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the 
world  '  stood  among  its  expectant  inhabitants. 

And  again  Christ  said,  '  The  queen  of  the  south 
shall  rise  up  in  judgment  with  this  generation, 
and  shall  condemn  it :  for  she  came  from  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  to  hear  the  wisdom 
of  Solomon ;  and,  behold,  a  greater  than  Solomon 
is  here.'  What  would  He  say  to  the  world  now, 
and  to  those  who,  living  under  the  dispensation 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  close  their  eyes  to  the  light,  and 
live  and  act  as  if  spiritual  life  and  spiritual  growth 
were  nonentities,  and  immortality — the  long,  un- 
ending life  beyond  the  grave — were  not  worth 
thinking  about  ?  The  judgment  upon  such  an  age 
has  been  foreshadowed  :  '  To  whom  much  is  given, 
of  him  much  will  be  required.' 

An  intelligent  faith  in  what  is  called  the  c  super- 
natural' enables  man  to  understand  himself  and 
his  history ;  it  accounts  in  a  reasonable  way  for  his 
aspirations  towards  a  better  state  of  things  than 
exists  in  this  world ;  it  gives  him  a  clear  apprehen- 
sion of  his  origin  and  of  his  destiny,  of  his  Creator, 
and  of  the  union  in  his  own  nature  of  the  Divine 
and  human.  Weak  faith  degenerates  often  into 
mere  superstition.  Strong  faith  with  sound  reason 
enable  men  to  soar  far  above  all  visionary  doubts 
and  mental  hallucinations  into  a  region  where  they 
attain  an  absolute  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  man 
is  a   superhuman   being.     That  fact  opens  man's 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  161 

eyes  and  heart  to  such  an  expansive  view  of  Nature 
and  Revelation,  that  he  realizes  the  universal 
brotherhood  of  mankind,  and  its  continuity  from 
the  beginning ;  he  regards  the  '  great  procession  ' 
as  one  family.  What  were  sometime  mysteries 
become  plain  realities ;  and  they  who  find  that  day 
by  day  the  shadows  of  ignorance  are  growing  less, 
and  the  light  of  wisdom  and  the  power  of  vision  are 
increasing,  scarcely  need  the  reappearance  on  earth 
of  those  who  have  gone  to  the  world  of  spirits  to 
assure  them  of  their  existence  in  another  sphere. 
Yet  God  permits  them  from  time  to  time  to  revisit 
earth.  He  remembers  our  many  infirmities,  and 
our  temptations  to  unbelief  in  the  unseen,  and  He 
vouchsafes  to  man  whatever  is  needful  to  confirm 
his  faith  in  eternal  verities.  Samuel  was  permitted 
to  appear  to  Saul,  and,  as  he  had  done  when  in  the 
flesh,  he  spoke  to  the  king  as  a  prophet  sent  by  God, 
telling  him  that,  because  he  had  not  obeyed  the 
voice  of  the  Lord,  the  kingdom  had  been  rent  from 
his  hand  and  given  to  David.  The  daughter  of 
Jairus  was  recovered  from  death.  The  son  of  the 
widow  of  Nain  was  restored  to  his  mother.  Lazarus 
entered  again  that  mortal  body  which  had  lain  four 
days  in  the  tomb.  Tradition  says  that  he  was 
never  seen  to  smile  after  he  was  raised  from  the 
dead.  It  may  be  so,  for  he  was  the  friend  of  Jesus, 
and  it  is  written,  '  Blessed  are  the  dead  that  die  in 
the  Lord.'     He,  like  the  beggar  who  lay  at  the  rich 


1 62  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

man's  door,  may  have  been  led  by  angels  to  a  place 
of  rest  and  light  and  love  ;  so  that  earth,  hence- 
forth, could  have  no  charm  for  him.  He  came 
back  at  the  bidding  of  his  Lord,  and  again  went 
about  among  men,  a  living  monument  of  the  power 
of  God;  but — so  great  is  the  wilful  blindness  of 
fallen  man — because  his  presence  at  Bethany  proved 
that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  what  He  claimed  to  be, 
God-Incarnate,  '  the  chief  priests  consulted  that 
they  might  put  Lazarus  to  death,  because,  by  reason 
of  him,  many  of  the  Jews  went  away  and  believed 
on  Jesus.'  Well  was  it  said  unto  them,  '  Ye  fools, 
and  blind  !'  as  if  He  who  had  raised  the  dead  once 
could  not  put  forth  His  Almighty  power  again,  and 
cause  Lazarus  to  witness  against  their  wickedness 
and  hypocrisy  if  He  willed  so  to  do.  They  who 
sat  in  the  seat  of  Moses ;  who  built  the  tombs  of 
the  prophets  and  garnished  the  sepulchres  of  the 
righteous ;  who  boasted  that  if  they  had  lived  in 
the  days  of  their  fathers,  they  would  not  have  been 
partakers  with  them  in  the  blood  of  the  prophets, 
were  witnesses  unto  themselves  that  they  were  the 
children  of  them  that  killed  the  prophets  ;  for  they 
were  even  then  plotting  against  Him  of  Whom  the 
prophets  wrote. 

What  but  the  supernatural  at  which  the  world 
scoffs  ;  what  but  the  vital  force  which  pervades  the 
universe  and  sustains  all,  from  the  least  to  the 
greatest,  in  the  kingdoms  of  Nature   and  Grace; 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  163 

what  less  powerful  than  this  would  account  for  the 
fact  that  the  haughty  priests  and  pharisees  of  Jeru- 
salem stood  silent  before  the  despised  and  rejected 
Nazarene,  when,  with  the  dignity  of  a  judge  and 
the  authority  of  a  king,  He  delivered  His  wither- 
ing charge,  and  declared  their  condemnation  ?  The 
day  of  sacrifice  was  near,  but  it  had  not  dawned. 
The  hour  when  the  Saviour  of  the  world  would 
surrender  Himself  into  the  hands  of  His  enemies, 
and  permit  them  to  fill  up  the  measure  of  their 
iniquity,  had  not  arrived  ;  and  until  then  they  could 
do  nothing  :  for  it  was  God  Himself  who  spoke  to 
them,  God  manifest  in  the  Person  of  His  Son. 

It  is  an  essential  dogma  of  revealed  religion  that 
God  was  from  all  eternity  manifested  by  His  only 
begotten  Son,  the  Word,  who  was  from  the  begin- 
ning '  in  the  Form  of  God  ':  and  the  sacred  books 
of  the  Old  Testament  seem  to  tell  us  very  clearly 
that  that  Form  or  embodiment  was  in  the  human 
shape.  Hence  it  is  written  that  man  was  made  '  in 
the  image  of  God.'  Here,  again,  a  marvellous 
chord  in  the  universal  harmony  of  creation  is  struck, 
and  man  can  but  wonder  and  adore  while  raising  a 
glad  Te  Deum  because  he  is  permitted  in  this  lower 
sphere  to  hear  the  music  of  heaven,  and  to  feel  in 
his  whole  being  the  influence  of  its  vibrations. 
Thus  he  learns  that  the  grand  scale  includes  the 
lower  notes  on  earth  as  well  as  the  higher  ones  in 
heaven.     When  the  invisible  creations  of  God  are 


1 64  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

spiritually  discerned,  and  the  reality  of  the  unseen 
is  so  impressed  upon  the  mind  that  the  objects  of 
sight  and  sense  do  not  cloud  or  efface  that  im- 
pression ;  when  faith  by  the  teaching  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  has  become  so  strong,  and  reason  so  elevated 
and  expanded  as  to  be  one  with  faith,  man  does 
not  say,  '  /  believe ,'  he  says,  '  /  know,7  as  did  the 
patriarch  Job  in  old  time.  Then  he  sees  deeper 
into  the  mysteries  which  surround  him,  and  he  is 
able  to  connect  the  seemingly  disjointed  fragments 
of  sacred  and  profane  history  :  the  teaching  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  shows  him  how  to  put  them  together, 
as  a  skilful  workman  combines  his  kaleidoscopic 
materials  so  as  to  form  a  beautiful  mosaic  \  and  in 
the  light  which  is  given  without  measure  to  those 
who  have  the  'willing  mind,'  the  fact  gradually 
becomes  clear  that  with  God  there  is  no  mystery, 
and  for  us  it  is  simply  something  that  we  cannot 
at  present  understand.  We  must,  however,  still 
use  the  term  which  our  limitation  of  knowledge 
requires.  The  harmony  of  creation  we  may  rever- 
ently call  'God's  masterpiece.'  With  it  revelation 
begins  and  note  by  note  is  added,  until  at  the  close 
there  is  the  grand  'Amen.'  It  is  a  harmony  that 
gladdens  the  hearts  of  all  who  can  hear  it  as  they 
go  forward  in  the  great  procession  ;  and  the  more 
they  study  the  various  parts  the  more  perfect  the 
harmony  is  found  to  be.  It  is  written,  'Thou 
canst  not  see  My  face ;  for  there  shall  no  man  see 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  165 

Me,  and  live.'  'No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any 
time  ;  the  only  begotten  Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Father,  He  hath  declared  Him.'  It  is  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  who  at  His  appearing  shall  show 
'  Who  is  the  blessed  and  only  Potentate,  the  King 
of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords  ;  Who  only  hath  im- 
mortality, dwelling  in  the  light  which  no  man  can 
approach  unto ;  Whom  no  man  hath  seen,  nor  can 
see.'  Hence  we  know  that  when,  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, it  is  said  that  the  Lord  appeared  and  talked 
with  men,  it  was  the  second  Person  of  the  Holy 
Trinity  who  caused  Himself  to  become  visible  to 
mortals  ;  and  that  it  was  in  the  form  of  man  He 
communed  with  Abraham,  wrestled  with  Jacob, 
and  blessed  him,  and  stood  before  Joshua  'as 
the  Prince  of  the  host  of  the  Lord.'  He  did  eat 
before  Abraham  ;  He  touched  Jacob  ;  He  came  as 
the  Captain  of  an  army  to  encourage  and  strengthen 
Joshua.  We  feel  that  we  are  approaching  holy 
ground  as  we  meditate  upon  these  records  ;  never- 
theless, they  were  '  written  for  our  learning,'  and 
if  we  fail  to  study  them  and  gather  from  them  all  that 
they  were  intended  to  teach  us,  we  must  suffer  loss. 
It  would  seem  that  the  Son  of  God,  who  is  the 
'express  image  of  the  Father,'  the  'brightness  of 
His  glory,'  and  existing  in  'the form  of  God,'  was 
also  the  model  of  God's  last  creation,  man ;  for  it 
is  said,  'Let  us  make  man  in  our  image.'  The 
organism  of  the  Divine  Son  was  in  some  unique 


166  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

manner,  even  then,  the  same  as  man's  organism — 
the  same  though  under  different  conditions.  This 
seems  to  have  been  confirmed  when  the  risen  Lord 
appeared  to  His  disciples  and  said  unto  them, 
1  Peace  be  unto  you.'  '  But  they  were  terrified  and 
affrighted,  and  supposed  that  they  had  seen  a 
spirit.  And  He  said  unto  them,  Why  are  ye 
troubled?  and  why  do  thoughts  arise  in  your 
hearts  ?  Behold  My  hands  and  My  feet,  that  it  is 
I  Myself:  handle  Me,  and  see;  for  a  spirit  hath 
not  flesh  and  bones,  as  ye  see  Me  have.  And 
when  He  had  thus  spoken  He  showed  them  His 
hands  and  His  feet.  And  while  they  yet  believed 
not  for  joy,  and  wondered,  He  said  unto  them, 
Have  ye  here  any  meat  ?  And  they  gave  him  a 
piece  of  a  broiled  fish,  and  of  an  honeycomb. 
And  He  took  it,  and  did  eat  before  them.'  At  the 
institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  when  Jesus  took 
the  cup  and  gave  it  to  His  disciples,  saying,  '  Drink 
ye  all  of  it :  for  this  is  My  blood  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of 
sins,'  He  added,  '  But  I  say  unto  you,  I  will  not 
drink  henceforth  of  this  fruit  of  the  vine  until  that 
day  when  I  drink  it  new  with  you  in  my  Father's 
kingdom.'  Three  distinct  epochs  of  our  Lord's 
life  are  here  referred  to:  (i)  Before  His  Incarna- 
tion :  (2)  After  His  Incarnation  and  Resurrection  : 
(3)  After  His  Ascension  and  the  Resurrection  of 
the  faithful.     In   each  epoch  the   Lord   is  in    the 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  167 

form  of  man.  When  He  became  incarnate  He 
added  to  that  form  the  material  substance  of  the 
flesh.  After  the  Crucifixion  He  went  to  Hades, 
leaving  His  mortal  body  in  the  tomb.  On  the 
third  day  He  returned  to  earth,  entered  the 
sepulchre  where  that  body  had  been  laid,  changed 
it — even  as  we  are  told  that  those  who  are  alive  at 
His  second  coming  will  be  changed — and  went 
forth  in  His  resurrection  body  as  the  Saviour  of  the 
world  and  the  Victor  of  death. 

In  that  holy  sepulchre  we  are  reminded  that  the 
Son  of  God  took  unto  Him,  to  make  His  own  for 
ever,  something  that  He  had  not  when  He 
appeared  to  the  patriarchs,  something  that  He 
had  not  when  he  preached  to  the  spirits  in 
prison ;  for  when  He  was  in  Hades,  the  crucified 
body  was  in  the  tomb,  and  guarded  by  soldiers. 
When  the  stone  was  rolled  away  from  the  mouth 
of  the  sepulchre,  the  body  had  disappeared. 
May  not  this  something  be  the  '  wedding  garment ' 
in  which  all  must  be  clothed  who  sit  down  at 
the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb  ?  It  would 
seem  so,  for  we  are  told  that  'when  He  shall 
appear  we  shall  be  like  Him ' ;  and  that  before  He 
left  His  disciples,  He  said  unto  them,  'I  go  to 
prepare  a  place  for  you.'  It  was  the  Bridegroom 
preparing  for  His  bride ;  and  He  had  prayed  the 
Father  that  the  bride  for  whose  sake  He  had  fought 
with  the  powers  of  darkness,  and  conquered,  might 


168  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

be  one  with  Him,  even  as  He  was  one  with  the 
Father.  It  was  man's  entire  being  that  He  came 
to  save  ;  and  the  essential  oneness  of  God  and  man 
which  is  thus  proved  may  be  beyond  the  power  of 
reason  to  comprehend,  but  it  is  not  contrary  to  it. 
This  union  of  things  seen  and  unseen  is  made 
manifest  in  a  remarkable  degree  by  the  fact,  that  in 
each  of  the  three  epochs  of  Christ's  life,  He  is 
represented  as  eating  material  things  as  mortal  man 
does.  When  we  know  even  as  we  are  known,  we 
shall  see  how,  in  God's  laboratory,  Nature's  laws 
reorganize,  and  assimilate,  and  mould  all  things 
according  to  the  unchanging  will  of  the  Lawmaker. 
It  is  as  illogical  to  disbelieve  what  we  cannot  under- 
stand, as  it  would  be  to  deny  the  existence  of  things 
that  we  have  never  seen.  Words  utterly  fail, 
and  thought,  though  limitless  in  its  capacity,  fails 
too,  when  we  try  to  grasp  all  the  harmony  involved 
in  the  revealed  facts — the  fringe  of  which  is  but 
touched  here — of  the  three  epochs  of  the  life  of 
the  Son  of  God ;  but  the  key-note  of  the  wondrous 
harmony  is  the  absolute  oneness  of  God  and  man 
in  Christ. 

In  respect  of  man's  state  in  the  future,  it  has 
been  clearly  revealed  that  he  is  to  live  as  man 
through  eternity ;  and  when  restored  to  the  Divine 
image  in  which  he  was  created,  he  will  fulfil  his 
destiny  by  perfectly  doing  his  Father's  will.  If 
men  only  realized  in  part  what  they  are,  sin  would 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  169 

not  be  allowed  to  reign  in  their  mortal  bodies. 
The  glorious  harmony  of  God's  dealings  with  His 
children  would  kindle  a  desire  to  live  better  lives 
than  most  men  and  women  dream  of  now.  They 
would  feel  that  time  is  not  given  to  be  wasted  ;  that 
man  is  not  born  into  the  world  to  live  for  himself 
alone,  nor  for  the  world  alone,  for  his  life  is  divided 
into  two — a  life  in  time,  and  a  life  in  eternity,  the 
former  being  a  preparation  for  the  latter.  If  he 
choose  evil,  and  refuse  to  walk  uprightly,  he  must 
suffer  loss ;  for  '  what  a  man  sows,  he  must  also  reap.' 
The  Scripture  says,  'Cast  thy  bread  upon  the 
waters,  and  thou  shalt  find  it  after  many  days.'  It 
is  only  at  the  end  of  the  '  many  days '  that  the  result 
of  casting  the  bread  upon  the  waters  will  be  known  ; 
and  the  man  of  God  is  content  to  work  and  wait. 
He  knows  that  a  few  kind  words  spoken  to  a  fellow- 
traveller  may  be  as  leaves  from  the  tree  of  life ; 
and  that  a  kind  deed  done  heartily,  as  unto  the 
Lord,  changes  the  feet  and  hands  of  man  into  instru- 
ments of  God's  own  handiwork.  So  powerful  is 
man,  and  so  great  is  his  dignity,  that  he  should 
never  ask,  What  can  I  do  ?  but,  What  may  I  do  ?  for 
what  a  man  of  willing  mind  can  do  for  God  in  this 
life  is,  in  one  sense,  illimitable.  A  good  man's 
ways  are  ordered  by  the  Lord.  He  distributes  to 
every  man  severally  as  He  will  ;  He  gives  the  time, 
and  the  opportunity,  and  the  talents  to  each,  for  the 
work  which  He  expects  each  to  do ;  and  life's  work 


170  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

well  done  always  ends  in  victory.  To  the  hardy 
sons  of  toil,  as  to  the  rulers  of  kingdoms,  the  '  Well 
done,  good  and  faithful  servant !'  will  be  the  greeting 
of  the  King  of  kings.  The  Angel  of  Death,  though 
he  seem  to  slay,  only  strikes  off  the  fetters  that  bind 
man  to  earth  until  his  present  task  is  accomplished, 
or  the  time  allowed  for  doing  it  has  expired. 

Not  until  the  veil  of  mortality  is  rent,  and  the 
spirit  of  man  is  set  free,  can  he  see  clearly  how 
those  things  which  seemed  to  be  most  against  him 
were  working  together  for  his  good — not  a  mere 
transitory  good  that  ends  when  the  last  grain  of 
sand  in  Time's  hour-glass  has  fallen,  but  the  good 
that  lives  and  grows  through  eternity.  When  Nature 
lies  sleeping  beneath  the  snow,  she  is  gathering 
up  strength  for  the  time  when  the  decree  of  the 
Spring-breath  shall  say,  '  Let  the  earth  bring  forth.' 
Then  earth  awakes  from  her  wintry  slumber  to 
fulfil  her  mission  ;  and  in  her  summer  beauty,  and 
her  autumn  glory,  gives  to  man  her  fragrance  and 
her  fruits.  Even  so  it  is  that  when  some  great 
sorrow  comes  to  us,  and  chills  and  blights  our  life, 
we  lie  down  beneath  its  shadow ;  and  in  the  cold 
and  the  darkness  we  rest,  lonely  and  sad,  our  eyes 
and  hearts  alike  closed  to  the  small  cares  and 
worries  of  life,  which  so  often,  like  a  moth  fretting 
the  ermine,  destroy  the  beauty  of  that  which,  if  let 
alone  and  hidden  for  a  time,  would  come  forth  un- 
harmed like  gold  from  the  crucible.     And  all  the 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  171 

while  we  are  preparing  for  the  work  which  follows 
the  long  rest — for  the  day  that  comes  after  night, 
for  the  life  that  follows  the  great  final  change  which 
takes  place  as  each  member  of  the  great  procession 
passes  out  of  sight.  That  change  seems  sudden, 
but  it  is  only  the  end  of  the  school-term,  when  each 
has  to  realize  how  much  he  has  lost  or  gained  by 
using  aright,  or  misusing,  the  time  and  talents 
bestowed  upon  him.  A  grand  career  along  a  path 
of  light,  in  the  world  to  come,  is  the  portion  of  that 
man  who,  here  below,  has  proved  himself  a  hero  in 
the  path  of  duty — the  man  who,  whether  in  great 
things  or  small,  has  scorned  '  to  do  less  than  his 
utmost,  or  to  be  less  than  his  best.'  '  L'ouvrage 
des  homines  sur  la  terre  ne  se  mesure  pas  a  la 
quantit'e  de  leurs  forces  physiques,  mats  a  la  quantite 
de  leur  volont'e?  The  noblest  natures,  by  gradually 
forgetting  self  in  the  pursuit  of  holiness,  or  in 
labouring  for  the  good  of  others,  make  unconsciously 
the  greatest  sacrifice  man  can  make.  It  is  a  sacri- 
fice which  is  acceptable  to  God,  for  it  is  God-like 
in  its  nature.  '  My  son,  give  me  thine  heart,'  is  the 
call;  and  when  that  call  is  answered  by  the  sur- 
render of  self,  man  has  done  all  he  can  do,  and  the 
Blood  of  Jesus  washes  away  all  dust  of  earth  that 
may  cling  to  him,  and  the  hero  is  brought  into  the 
presence  of  the  King,  pure  and  holy,  without  spot 
or  wrinkle.  Such  men  '  sow  in  tears,'  for,  as  has 
been  truly  said,  '  suffering  is  an  inevitable  part  of 


172  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

the  training  of  those  who  are  to  carry  God's  choicest 
gifts  of  consolation  to  others ;'  but,  '  they  reap  in 
joy,'  and  ■  service  wrought  for  God  and  His  people 
is  not  arrested,  not  suspended  by  death,  only  trans- 
ferred elsewhere ;  only  raised  to  a  truer,  higher 
sphere,  where  the  chill  of  disappointment  and  the 
check  of  error  can  never  come.' 

As  the  mind  tries  to  imagine  the  'great  pro- 
cession,' and  to  learn  some  lessons  from  the  lives  of 
individual  soldiers  as  they  march  in  their  several 
companies,  we  cannot  fail  to  observe  that  the  best 
soldiers  of  the  Cross  are  the  hardest  workers,  and 
the  most  untiring  helpers  of  their  fellow-men  ;  con- 
sequently they  are  the  most  Christ-like  in  their 
lives.  Having  fought  the  good  fight,  and  finished 
their  course,  the  joy  of  youth  comes  back  to  them 
in  their  old  age,  and  the  peace  which  the  world  can 
neither  give  nor  take  away  is  the  portion  of  all 
who,  nearly  at  the  end  of  a  long  day's  march,  find 
themselves  in  the  '  narrow  path,'  '  so  far  from  the 
childhood  which  is  transitory,  yet  so  near  to  that 
which  is  eternal.' 

I  once  saw  a  portrait.  It  was  of  a  young  man  ; 
the  prevailing  expression  was,  I  think,  that  of  calm 
gentleness.  There  were  other  characteristics,  but 
of  those  I  need  not  write.  About  the  same  time 
that  I  saw  the  portrait,  I  saw  the  original  of  the 
portrait.  He  was  then  past  the  prime  of  life,  but 
full  of  energy,  allowing  himself  no  time  for  folding 


THE  GREAT  PROCESSION  173 

his  arms,  and  looking  on,  while  those  who  were 
under  his  command,  and  walked  with  him  in  the 
procession,  did   the  work  for  the  Lord   that  was 
needed.     Often,  indeed,  he  worked   harder   than 
they  did   in    that   part    of    the  vineyard   through 
which  they  were  passing.     He  was  then  a  Bishop 
of  the  Church.     The  face  was  bronzed,  and  the 
skin  had  lost  the  smoothness  of  youth.    The  weight 
of  the  pastoral  staff  might  then  have  begun  to  tell 
upon  his  strength.    The  responsibility  of  office,  the 
care  of  the  flock  committed  to  his  charge,  and  his 
mental  and  physical  labour  had  left  their  impress 
upon  the  man.     Careworn,  was  the  verdict  which 
the  face  proclaimed.     The  portrait  of  the  young 
man  was  no  longer  a  likeness  of  the  Bishop;    I 
could  see  but  a  faint  resemblance,  even  when,  in 
friendly  intercourse,  the  weight  of  care  was  lightened 
for  a  passing  hour.     Many  years  passed  away,  and 
again  I  met   the  Bishop.      The  King  had  called 
His  servant  to  cease  from    his  work,  and  to   rest 
awhile  ere  he  passed  on  home.     A  quiet  waiting- 
time  had  come  for  the  aged  Bishop,  and  while  thus 
waiting  he  seemed  to   have   grown  young   again. 
The  old  face  was  lighted  up  by  the  spirit  that  never 
grows  old ;  the  lines  which  time  had  marked  and 
toil  had  deepened  were  softened,  and  the  man  of 
four-score  years  and  ten  wore  again  the  look  which 
the  artist  had  caught  and  depicted  on  the  canvas 
so  many  years  before.     So  it  is  in  the  kingdom  of 


174  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

God.  The  morning  and  the  evening  are  one  day, 
and  in  its  light  the  young  and  the  old  meet,  and 
are  seen  to  be  one  in  spirit  and  in  destiny.  The 
Lord  has  said,  '  All  shall  know  Me,  from  the  least 
unto  the  greatest ';  and  at  the  close  of  man's  journey 
upon  earth,  whether  he  be  old  or  young,  the  know- 
ledge of  the  one  God  stamps  each  with  the  same 
likeness.  Just  as  in  the  home-circle,  the  features 
and  character  of  the  parents  are  discernible  in  the 
children,  so  in  God's  children  may  be  traced,  amidst 
endless  diversity,  the  likeness  to  their  great  Father  ; 
the  likeness  impressed  by  Faith  upon  all  who  from 
the  beginning  of  time  have  walked  with  God. 

Faith  in  God  and  immortality  causes  man  to 
look  upward  and  onward ;  and  as  the  long  pro- 
cession continues  to  move  on,  we  see  in  the  stead- 
fast, upward  glance,  and  the  unfaltering  steps  of 
some  of  the  pilgrims,  that  they  are  striving  to  obtain 
some  great  prize  ;  it  may  be  a  crown  of  exceeding 
glory,  which  can  only  be  won  by  taking  up,  and 
bearing  patiently  and  bravely,  and  in  the  spirit  of 
a  little  child,  a  heavy  cross  ;  or,  it  may  be  a  place 
of  light  within  one  of  the  innermost  circles  that 
surround  the  throne  of  the  Eternal ;  and  perhaps 
that  height  can  only  be  attained — by  some  who  are 
'  running  the  race ' — by  means  of  that  strong  faith 
which  is,  as  it  were,  born  of  darkness ;  the  dark- 
ness caused  by  intense  light,  as  when  the  natural 
eye  is  blinded  for  a  time  by  gazing  at  the  sun. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE    GREAT    KINGDOM. 

History  tells  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  nations  ;  of  the 
might  and  power  and  dominion  of  victorious  kings. 
Ruined  cities  testify  to  the  wealth  and  the  magni- 
ficence of  the  people  who  once  inhabited  them  ; 
temples  which,  even  in  decay,  excite  the  wonder  of 
men  in  modern  times,  by  their  stupendous  grandeur, 
are  monuments,  not  merely  of  lofty  conceptions 
and  of  practical  ability,  but  also  of  the  devotion  of 
past  generations.  At  the  root  of  even  the  grossest 
forms  of  idolatry,  there  ever  has  been  a  'feeling 
after  God,'  which  does  but  find  a  misguided  ex- 
pression in  idol  worship.  Belief  in  God  is  essential 
to  man's  very  being.  He  may  deny  the  fact  that 
there  is  a  God  ;  he  may  even  persuade  himself  that 
he  believes  there  is  no  God :  but  the  persuasion  is 
a  delusion,  for  the  impression  of  a  primal  source  of 
being  belongs  to  his  very  nature.  He  may  try  to 
destroy  the  '  image  '  in  which  he  was  made,  by 


176  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

heaping  doubt  upon  doubt,  and  sin  upon  sin,  but 
he  cannot  succeed,  for  '  God  is  love,'  and  has  a 
desire  to  the  work  of  His  own  hand.  God  is 
powerful,  man  is  weak,  and  the  weak  must  fall 
before  the  strong.  Man  may  mar,  and  almost 
deface,  the  God-like  image  that  is  in  him,  but  as 
long  as  there  is  life  it  may  be  said  to  him  : 

'  You  may  break,  you  may  ruin  the  vase  if  you  will, 
But  the  scent  of  the  roses  will  hang  round  it  still.' 

Belief  in  God,  taking  one  form  or  another,  is 
inseparable  from  man.  We  know  but  little  here 
below,  yet  who  will  venture  to  say  that  when  the 
Red  Indian  raises  his  eyes  to  the  sky  above  him, 
and  gives  the  first  whiff  of  his  pipe  to  the  '  Great 
Spirit,'  that  act  of  worship  is  not  accepted  by  the 
one  and  only  God  ?  And  not  only  accepted,  but 
recorded  in  the  Book  of  Life,  as  a  loving  offering 
from  one  to  whom  little  had  been  given  on  earth. 

The  kingdoms  of  the  old  world  have  passed 
away,  and  their  kings  have  gone  the  way  of  all 
flesh.  So  will  it  be  with  the  kingdoms  and  their 
rulers  of  to-day.  But  there  is  a  kingdom  which  is 
not  of  this  world,  although  it  is  in  this  world,  of 
which  there  will  be  no  end,  since  it  is  an  '  ever- 
lasting kingdom  ';  and  the  glorious  majesty  of  that 
kingdom  shall  not  pass  away.  It  is  the  kingdom 
of  the  Lord  God  Almighty,  who  is  Governor  among 
the  nations  ;  the  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords  ; 
the  blessed  and  only  Potentate,  by  whom  earthly 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  177 

monarchs  reign  ;  who  upholdeth  all  things  by  the 
word  of  His  power. 

He  who  said,  '  By  Me  kings  reign,'  also  said,  '  I, 
if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men 
unto  me.'  Those  blessed  words  were  spoken  by 
human  lips  ;  the  same  lips  from  which  afterwards 
came  the  seven  last  sayings  of  Jesus  on  the  cross. 
The  cross  was  set  up  among  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world,  by  order  of  the  rulers  of  earthly  power.  He 
who  gave  Himself  as  a  Sacrifice  for  the  sins  of 
the  whole  world,  died  upon  it  the  death  of  a  male- 
factor. That  Sacrifice  was,  as  it  were,  the  corner- 
stone of  the  new  spiritual  kingdom.  It  seemed  to 
be  laid  in  weakness ;  but  St.  John  tells  of  a  great 
silence  in  heaven,'  and  of  seven  angels,  to  whom 
trumpets  were  given,  standing  before  God,  prepared 
to  sound.  And  after  the  six  angels  had  sounded, 
another  mighty  angel  came  down  from  heaven,  who 
stood  upon  the  sea  and  upon  the  earth,  and  lifting 
up  his  hand  to  heaven,  'he  sware  by  Him  who 
liveth  for  ever  and  ever,  who  created  heaven  and 
the  things  that  therein  are,  and  the  earth,  and  the 
things  that  therein  are,  and  the  sea,  and  the  things 
that  are  therein,  that  there  should  be  time  no 
longer  :  but  in  the  day  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh 
angel,  when  he  shall  begin  to  sound,  the  mystery 
of  God  should  be  finished,  as  He  hath  declared  to 
His  servants  the  prophets.'  '  And,'  St.  John  writes, 
1  when  the  seventh  angel  sounded  there  were  great 


178  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

voices  in  heaven,  saying,  The  kingdoms  of  this 
world  are  become  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord,  and  of 
His  Christ ;  and  He  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever.' 

We  have  here  set  before  us  the  result  of  the 
sowing  and  the  reaping — the  day  of  seemingly  small 
things  on  earth,  and  the  triumphant  song  of  victory 
in  heaven,  because  the  Victim  of  Calvary  had 
crowned  His  finished  work  by  delivering  up  the 
kingdom  which  He  had  won  to  the  Father. 

'The  God  of  Our  Lord  Jesus,  the  Father  of 
Glory,'  set  the  Son  of  Mary,  after  His  glorious 
resurrection  and  ascension,  '  at  His  own  right  hand 
in  the  heavenly  places,  far  above  all  principality, 
and  power,  and  might,  and  dominion,  and  every 
name  that  is  named,  not  only  in  this  world,  but 
also  in  that  which  is  to  come ;  and  put  all  things 
under  His  feet,  and  gave  Him  to  be  Head  over  all 
things  to  the  Church  :  which  is  His  body,  the 
fulness  of  Him  that  filleth  all  in  all.'  There,  in 
His  glorified  humanity,  the  God-Man  is  seated  as 
King,  'For  He  must  reign  till  He  hath  put  all 
enemies  under  His  feet.'  '  And  when  all  things 
shall  be  subdued  unto  Him,  then  shall  the  Son  also 
Himself  (as  the  Son  of  Mary)  'be  subject  unto 
Him  who  put  all  things  under  Him,  that  God,'  the 
One  Triune  Lord  of  the  universe,  '  may  be  all  in 
all.'  And  the  children  of  Christ's  kingdom,  made 
like  unto  their  Redeemer  by  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  them,   and  having  obtained  an  entrance 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  179 

into  the  everlasting  kingdom,  shall  be  one  with 
Christ  for  ever,  even  as  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  are  One. 

Jesus  sealed  the  work  of  Redemption  by  uttering 
the  words  '  It  is  finished.'  After  His  resurrection 
He  ceased  to  be  seen  by  the  world,  though  He 
remained  for  awhile  on  the  earth,  and  showed 
Himself  as  a  '  perfect  God  and  perfect  Man,'  to 
those  who  should  be  heirs  of  the  kingdom  which 
He  was  about  to  found.  Veiled  in  His  changed 
body,  the  King  of  Glory  tarried  upon  earth  to  lay 
the  foundations  of  His  kingdom  which,  like  Him- 
self, was  to  be  spiritual  and  universal,  and  to  last 
for  ever.  Henceforth  His  kingdom,  was  to  be 
visible  under  the  form  of  an  organized  body,  which 
is  known  as  the  Church  ;  and  during  the  forty  days 
between  His  resurrection  and  ascension,  we  are 
told  that  He  was  instructing  His  disciples  concern- 
ing the  kingdom. 

As  the  temple  of  Solomon,  'when  it  was  in 
building,'  was  built  of  stones  made  ready  before 
they  were  brought  thither,  so  that  there  was  neither 
hammer  nor  axe,  nor  any  tool  of  iron  heard  in  the 
house  while  it  was  in  building,  so  the  Church  of 
Christ  was  begun  in  silence.  Living  stones  were 
chosen  for  the  foundation  of  the  great  sacramental 
edifice,  which,  St.  Paul  tells  us,  was  to  be  built  upon 
the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus 
Christ  Himself  being  the  chief  Corner-Stone.    The 


180  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

stones  were  taken  from  the  common  quarry  :  they 
were  lightly  esteemed,  and  of  no  value  in  the  eyes 
of  the  world.  Many  of  them  were  rough-hewn 
stones  :  there  was  no  beauty  in  them  to  be  desired, 
and  they  were  despised  and  rejected,  even  as  the 
Corner-Stone  was  rejected.  Had  the  great  ones  of 
the  earth  been  told  that  the  living  energy  pervading 
those  stones  was  omnipotent,  and  that  upon  those 
unpolished  and  seemingly  insignificant  stones  a 
mighty  edifice  would  be  built,  against  which  the 
united  power  of  men  and  spirits  could  not  prevail ; 
that  every  weapon  forged  against  it  would  be 
powerless  to  overthrow  it — they  would  have  laughed 
the  prophet  to  scorn.  The  haughty  Roman,  once 
master  of  the  world,  enthroned  in  pomp  and  power 
in  his  seven-hilled  city,  little  thought  that  the  time 
was  not  far  distant  when  the  pride  of  the  Pagan 
would  be  laid  low,  and  his  gods  cast  down  to  make 
room  for  the  Cross.  The  Emperor  and  the  senate 
at  Rome  knew  nothing  of  what  was  passing  in 
Jerusalem  ;  and  if  they  had  known  we  may  be  sure 
that  the  scenes  in  the  Upper  Chamber,  in  Pilate's 
Judgment  Hall,  and  round  the  Cross  of  Calvary, 
would  have  been  of  no  interest  to  them  j  even  as 
to  the  world  now,  they  are  nothing  more  than 
events  of  the  past,  remembered  by  many  for 
reasons  which  the  world  does  not  care  to  dwell 
upon,  or  try  to  understand.  And  why  is  it  so? 
When  the  longest  life  is  so  short,  when  man  knows 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  181 

that  he  must  die,  and  leave  everything  behind  him, 
why  does  he  not  care  to  learn  something  of  the 
spirit-world,  something  of  the  future  life,  some- 
thing of  the  purpose  of  the  present  life  ?  It  must 
be  because  the  world  with  which  he  has  cast  in 
his  lot  is  spiritually  dead. 

Every  man  knows  that  '  It  is  appointed  unto 
men  once  to  die ;  nay,  more,  that  death  is  the 
most  certain  of  all  events ;  and  yet  the  majority  of 
human  beings  live  as  if  there  were  no  such  thing 
to  fear.  They  live  as  if  the  social,  moral,  and 
political  state  of  the  world  would  go  on  for  ever  as 
it  does  now,  and  as  it  has  done  through  former 
ages.  They  never  give  themselves  time  to  think 
of  or  to  learn  aught  concerning  the  spiritual  part 
of  their  being,  and  concerning  the  life  beyond  the 
grave  ;  and  so  they  do  not  realize  that  what  belongs 
only  to  the  material  world  must  come  to  an  end. 
It  has  always  been  so.  Were  not  the  men  and 
women  of  old  time  doing  just  as  men  and  women 
do  now,  when  the  flood  came  and  swept  them  away 
from  the  face  of  the  earth  ?  Did  Lucifer,  when, 
as  a  '  son  of  the  morning,'  he  first  conceived  sin 
and  in  the  pride  of  his  heart  said,  '  I  will  ascend 
into  heaven,  I  will  exalt  my  throne  above  the  stars 
of  God.  I  will  ascend  above  the  heights  of  the 
clouds  :  I  will  be  like  the  Most  High ' ;  did  he 
think  that  he  should  be  brought  down  to  hell  ? 
Did  the  inhabitants  of  Capernaum  in  the  exaltation 


1 82  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

of  their  pride  think  that  all  they  valued  would 
vanish  like  a  dream  ?  Did  the  Pharaohs  of  Egypt, 
and  the  monarchs  of  Persia,  ever  surmise  that  all 
their  regal  power  and  glory  would  pass  away  ?  Did 
imperial  Rome  ever  dream  that  her  empire  would 
crumble  into  dust?  Did  the  ancient  nobility  of 
France  believe  that  their  brilliant,  butterfly  life 
would  end  in  the  Reign  of  Terror  ?  Does  Britannia, 
who  'rules  the  waves,'  ever  think  that  the  time  will 
come  when  her  flag  which  '  has  braved  a  thousand 
years  the  battle  and  the  breeze '  will  be  lowered, 
because  the  hour  has  come  when,  by  reason  of  the 
inevitable  changes  of  a  changing  world,  and  the 
flight  of  time,  she  must  take  her  place  among  the 
shades  of  departed  glory  ?  Does  England  realize 
that  her  vast  empire,  on  which,  it  is  proudly  said, 
1  the  sun  never  sets,'  must  in  the  natural  order  of 
things  share  the  same  fate  as  other  empires ;  that 
her  sun  must  set,  her  power  must  wane,  her  strength 
must  change  to  weakness,  and  her  world-wide  fame 
become  a  thing  of  the  past  ?  Do  her  rulers  realize 
any  more  than  the  Pharaohs  and  the  Caesars  did 
that  their  place  as  kings  among  men,  and  their  glory 
as  stars  of  the  first  or  second  magnitude  in  the 
illimitable  universe  throughout  eternity,  depend  not 
upon  their  material  power  and  grandeur,  but  upon 
the  use  they  make  of  the  wealth,  and  the  talents,  and 
the  opportunities  that  are  bestowed  upon  them  ? 
All  this  blindness  to  the  transitory  character  of 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  183 

the  visible  world  arises  from  the  fact  that  the  world 
is  spiritually  dead;  and  yet  as  a  great  preacher* 
tells  us,  '  No  truth  is  more  clearly  revealed  to  us 
than  this,  that  spiritual  life,  whether  given  us  at  our 
first  new  birth  into  Christ  or  renewed  after  peni- 
tence  in  later  years,  is  the  free  fresh  gift  of  the 
Father  of  spirits,  uniting  us  by  His  Spirit  to  His 
Blessed  Son.     Nature  can  no  more  give  us  newness 
of  life  than  a  corpse  can  rise  from  the  dead  by  its 
unassisted  powers.     "  That  which  is  born  of  the 
flesh   is  flesh."     A  sense  of  prudence,  advancing 
years,    the   tone  of  society   around  us,  family  in- 
fluences, may  remodel  the  surface  form  of  our  daily 
habits.    But  Divine  grace  alone  can  turn  the  inmost 
being  to  God  ;  can  "  raise  it  from  the  death  of  sin 
to  the  life  of  righteousness  ";  can  "  clothe  it  in  that 
new  man  which  after  God  is  created  in  righteous- 
ness and  true  holiness." '     Then  the  preacher  bids 
us  reflect  '  on  the  reality  of  spiritual  death,  linked 
as  it  often  is  in  one  and  the  same  man,  as  if  by  a 
ghastly  ligament  to  the  highest  animal  and  mental 
life.     The  body  is  in  the  full  flush  of  its  powers ; 
the  mind  day  by  day  plays  lightly  over  the  surface, 
or   grapples    earnestly   with    the    substance    of  a 
thousand   topics.      But  the  spiritual  life  is  to   all 
intents  and  purposes  dead ;  and  neither  boisterous 
animal  spirits  nor  intellectual  fire  can  galvanize  it 
into  life.     The  spiritual  senses    do  not    act :    the 
*  Dr.  Liddon,  Canon  of  St.  Paul's. 


184  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

spiritual  world  is  as  if  it  did  not  exist.  The  eye 
of  the  soul  is  closed ;  it  sees  in  spiritual  truth  only 
diseased  imaginations  or  needless  scruples.  Its 
ears  are  closed  :  Christ  and  His  apostles  are  to  it 
only  like  any  other  talkers  in  the  Babel  of  human 
tongues.  Its  mouth  is  closed  :  it  never  speaks  to 
God  in  prayer  or  to  men  in  faith  and  love.  Its 
hands  and  feet  are  tightly  bandaged  in  the  grave- 
clothes  of  selfish  habit  •  it  cannot  rise ;  it  cannot 
engage  in  works  of  benevolence  and  mercy  for  the 
love  of  God ;  it  must  lie  on  in  the  darkness  and 
putrefaction  of  its  spiritual  tomb ;  while  death,  as 
the  Psalmist  says,  gnaweth  upon  it.  And  a  great 
stone  has  been  rolled  to  the  door  of  its  sepulchre — 
the  dead-weight  of  corrupt  and  irreligious  opinion 
which  bars  out  from  it  the  light  and  air  of  heaven, 
and  makes  its  prison-house  of  death  secure.  How 
is  such  a  spell  and  encumbrance  of  death  to  be 
thrown  off,  if  no  help,  no  motive  quickening  power, 
come  from  on  high  ?  Even  if  angels  should  roll 
away  the  stone,  how  can  life  itself  be  restored  unless 
He  who  is  its  Lord  and  Giver  shall  flash  into  this 
dead  spirit  His  own  quickening  powers,  and  bid 
it  see  and  hear  and  walk  and  work,  and  feel  and 
rejoice  in  its  returning  life,  and  go  forth  to  brace 
its  strength  and  assert  its  liberty  ?' 

It  is  this  quickening  power  in  the  Head  that 
gives  life  to  the  members  of  the  body  and  causes 
the  Church  to  live  on  through  the  ages,  shining  as  a 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  185 

bright  light  amid  encircling  darkness.  In  order  to 
meet  the  wants  of  a  being  like  man,  composed  of 
spirit  and  matter,  it  must  needs  be  that  the  instru- 
ment for  the  regeneration  of  humanity  should  be 
one  in  touch  with  every  part  of  man's  being ;  and 
it  is  the  knowledge  that  the  Church  is  a  Divine 
institution,  permeated  with  the  life  of  its  Founder, 
that  invests  everything  connected  with  her  material 
organization  with  such  importance.  The  careless  ■ 
Christian  little  knows  what  he  is  doing  when  he' 
thinks  and  speaks  lightly  of  the  Church;  for  she 
is  the  instrument  God  has  chosen  for  the  regenera- 
tion of  mankind,  and  for  transforming  the  children 
of  Adam  into  the  image  which  they  have  lost ;  to 
make  them  again  children  of  God  and  heirs  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  If,  owing  to  the  circumstances 
by  which  we  are  surrounded,  and  the  extended 
knowledge  of  the  state  of  the  modern  world,  it  is 
more  difficult  for  us  to  maintain  the  faith  of  earlier 
days  than  it  was  for  our  ancestors,  seeing  that 
1  materialism,'  if  it  existed  to  any  appreciable 
extent,  was  not  then  the  power  in  the  world  that  it 
is  now;  still,  the  vast  dominion  of  the  new  king- 
dom and  her  impregnable  position  in  the  world,  is 
of  itself  sufficient  to  attest  her  Divine  origin,  and 
to  prove  her  possession  of  superhuman  power.  The 
extensive  outlook  which  knowledge  of  what  is 
passing  in  all  parts  of  the  world  now  gives  us, 
while   showing   the   vast    amount   of    evil   which 


1 86  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

threatens  to  overwhelm  the  good,  discloses  also 
to  us  an  unseen  power  that  keeps  the  evil  within 
bounds,  so  that  it  cannot  really  harm  those  faithful 
subjects  who  choose  to  walk  in  the  light,  and  be 
governed  by  the  laws  of  that  kingdom.  The  spirit 
of  unbelief  cannot  prevent  the  man  who  thinks  at 
all  from  regarding  the  Church  with  wonder,  as  he 
must  regard  the  older  Church  of  the  Jews.  The 
Jews  are  a  living  proof  of  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy  ; 
the  sceptic  cannot  deny  their  existence,  and  he  can 
only  ignore  them  and  their  past  and  present  history. 
But  that  is  not  exactly  a  logical  or  scientific  mode 
of  solving  a  difficult  problem,  and  cannot  be  satis- 
factory to  a  reflective  and  cultured  mind.  He  is 
in  the  same  dilemma  as  regards  the  Church.  He 
knows  her  history.  He  knows  when,  and  how,  and 
by  whom  the  new  kingdom  was  set  up.  He 
knows  that  the  whole  world  was  arrayed  against  her 
at  the  beginning,  and  that  through  successive 
centuries  all  that  is  adverse  to  her  teaching  and 
her  laws  has  been  trying  to  destroy  her.  He 
knows  also  that  her  members  have  held  their  own 
through  times  of  storm  and  sunshine ;  and  that 
the  fires  of  persecution  have  but  purified  and 
strengthened  her  for  the  exercise  of  her  influence 
in  every  quarter  of  the  globe.  He  sees  that 
her  power  is  far  above  that  of  earthly  kings 
and  princes ;  and  at  the  same  time  that  her 
subjects  are  the   most  loyal  supporters  of  earthly 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  187 

monarchies,  and  of  national  law.  They  see  human 
institutions  spring  up  and  fade  away ;  but  the 
Divine  institution  grows  stronger  as  the  ages  roll 
on.  Yet  the  unbeliever  in  the  Divine  origin  of  the 
kingdom  is  content  to  wonder  and  pass  on ;  but  he 
will  have  to  learn,  in  another  stage  of  his  existence, 
how  much  he  has  lost  by  neglecting  to  educate  the 
unseen  and  spiritual  part  of  his  being. 

It  has  been  shown  in  Chapter  II.,'  The  Great  Sacra- 
ment, God  in  Nature,'  that  within  all  created  things 
there  is  an  unseen  Power  at  work.  That  Power  is 
the  '  Life  of  the  World,'  and  all  creation  reveals  His 
Presence.  He  clothes  Himself  with  light  as  with 
a  garment :  He  moves  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind  : 
He  orders  the  courses  of  the  stars,  and  He  feeds  the 
sparrows.  All  things  great  and  small  are  cared  for 
by  Him  ;  but  His  delight  is  with  the  sons  of  men, 
and  it  is  in  His  dealings  with  the  children  of  the 
new  kingdom,  the  members  of  the  Universal 
Church,  that  His  power  and  love  are  fully  unveiled. 
They  are  revealed  to  the  heart  and  mind  of  man 
in  such  transcendent  forms,  that  to  those  who  press 
on  towards  the  mark  of  their  high  calling — and  in 
doing  so  acquire  ever- increasing  spiritual  insight  of 
the  invisible  things  of  God— the  things  that  are  seen 
assume  their  true  proportions.  They  see  in  the 
changing  world  of  Nature  a  material  witness  to 
God,  and  to  His  unchangeable  laws.  The  king- 
dom  of  grace  is  His  chosen  dwelling-place,  and 


1 88  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

there  He  abides  for  ever.  It  is  there  that  man 
learns  to  know  his  Maker ;  it  is  there  that  the  child 
finds  his  Father  ;  it  is  there  that  the  bride  meets 
the  Bridegroom  ;  and  it  is  there  that  the  pilgrim' 
weary  of  wandering  in  the  wilderness,  finds  rest  and 
peace  in  the  path  that  leads  straight  to  one  of  the  many 
mansions  which  He  is  preparing  for  His  followers. 

When  man,  on  whom  the  Almighty  God  bestowed 
a  portion  of  His  own  attributes,  with  the  trust  of 
free-will,  which  rendered  him  responsible  for  his 
thoughts  and  words,  and  deeds,  chose  evil  rather 
than  good,  God  had  to  deal  with  the  consequences 
of  that  free-agency  which  He  had  Himself  conferred 
upon  man.  So  great  has  become  the  power  of  self- 
willed  evil  in  man,  that  nothing  short  of  the  sacrifice 
of  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God  could  overmaster 
it.  Hence  the  glorious  achievements  in  the  spiritual 
world  far  outweigh  those  in  the  natural  world,  for 
material  things  shall  '  wax  old  as  doth  a  garment, 
and  as  a  vesture  they  shall  be  changed  ';  but  man 
remains  man  for  ever  :  a  never-dying  soul  clothed 
with  a  material  body  here,  and  with  an  answering 
spiritual  body  in  the  world  to  come.  To  measure 
the  value  of  the  soul,  we  have  but  to  meditate  on 
the  words,  '  What  doth  it  profit  a  man,  if  he  gain 
the  whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?'  and  to 
realize  the  cost  at  which  alone  it  could  be  ransomed. 

It  is  God  the  Son  who  reigns  over  the  new  king- 
dom, and  also  gives  life  to  all  those  who  enter  the 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  189 

kingdom,  confess  Him  before  men,  and  obey  His 
laws.  The  life  that  each  member  of  the  body  of  Christ 
receives  from  the  Head  is  a  new  life,  a  supernatural 
life,  altogether  different  to  the  natural  life  of  man  ; 
for  it  is  written,  '  He  that  hath  the  Son  of  God  hath 
life  ;  and  he  that  hath  not  the  Son  of  God  hath 
not  life.'  That  new  life  is  effective  for  resisting, 
rooting  out,  and  finally  overcoming  evil,  since  it  is 
Christ  Himself  dwelling  in  us. 

In  an  inconceivable  but  most  real  manner  He 
gives  Himself  to  all  who  will  receive  Him.  He 
sent  the  Holy  Ghost  from  the  Father  to  prepare 
each  child  who  enters  the  kingdom  through  the 
waters  of  Baptism,  for  participating  in  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  of  the  Altar  and  so  receiving  Christ. 
Man,  therefore,  however  cultured  and  moral  he 
may  be;  however  true  his  allegiance  to  the 
Decalogue  may  be;  and  however  irreproachable 
his  life  may  be,  as  judged  from  the  world's  highest 
ethical  standpoint,  is  not  a  Christian  in  the  proper 
sense  of  that  word,  unless  he  receives  Christ. 
'  Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man  and 
drink  His  blood,  ye  have  no  life  in  you.  Whoso 
eateth  My  flesh  and  drinketh  My  blood  hath  eternal 
life  ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day.  For 
My  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  My  blood  is  drink 
indeed.  He  that  eateth  My  flesh  and  drinketh  My 
blood  dwelleth  in  Me  and  I  in  him.'  And  St.  Paul 
writes,  '  I  am  crucified  with  Christ,  nevertheless  I 


\ 


190  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

live,  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me.'  This  is 
not  the  vitality  which  Adam  had,  even  before  the 
Fall :  The  new  life  is  something  more  mystical 
than  that ;  it  is  more  than  words  can  tell,  or  thought 
conceive.  It  is  enough  that  Jesus  has  said,  '  I  will 
not  leave  you  comfortless  (or  orphans),  I  will  come 
unto  you.  Yet  a  little  while,  and  the  world  seeth 
Me  no  more  :  but  ye  see  Me :  because  I  live,  ye 
shall  live  also.  At  that  day  ye  shall  know  that  I  am 
in  My  Father,  and  ye  in  Me,  and  I  in  you/ 

Again,  St.  Paul  says  :  '  We  are  members  of  His 
body,  of  His  flesh,  and  of  His  bones.  For  this 
cause  shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and  mother,  and 
shall  be  joined  unto  his  wife,  and  they  two  shall  be 
one  flesh.  This  is  a  great  mystery  :  but  I  speak 
concerning  Christ  and  the  Church.' 

It  is  difficult  for  a  Christian  who  has  once  grasped 
the  full  meaning  of  the  teachings  of  our  Lord  and 
of  His  apostles  concerning  the  union  of  the  Divine 
and  human,  '  not  by  confusion  of  substance,  but 
by  unity  of  person,'  to  understand  how  anyone 
professing  Christianity  can  fail  to  see,  that  it  is 
impossible  to  exalt  the  Church  higher  than  her 
Lord  has  exalted  her ;  because  if  we  believe  the 
Holy  Scriptures  to  be  the  inspired  Word  of  God, 
then  Christ  and  His  Church  are  one,  indissolubly 
and  for  ever  one.  The  Church  cannot  be  severed 
from  her  Head  and  live.  '  I  am  the  Vine,  ye  are 
the  branches  :  he  that  abideth  in  Me,  and  I  in  him, 
the  same  bringeth  forth  much  fruit,'  for  severed 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  191 

from  Me,  ye  can  do  nothing.  But  the  Church 
does  live  ;  she  lives  to  bear  much  fruit ;  she  lives 
to  work  for  her  Lord,  to  uphold  His  kingdom,  to 
fight  for  Him  against  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the 
devil ;  she  lives  to  suffer,  and  grow  strong  in  the 
path  of  suffering,  for  the  everlasting  arms  are  always 
stretched  out  to  help  and  defend  her.  She  lives  to 
conquer  and  be  crowned. 

A  failure  to  recognise  the  fact  that  Christ  and 
His  Church  are  one  is  doubtless  the  main  cause 
of  prevailing  unbelief  in  the  Church  as  a  Divine 
institution,  and  in  her  sacramental  character.  The 
god  of  this  world,  knowing  that  the  soul  can  only 
live  in  the  light  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  is 
content  when  he  sees  the  great  majority  regarding 
the  Church  as  merely  human,  and  fixing  their  atten- 
tion upon  her  crumbling  stones,  her  tottering  walls, 
her  desecrated  shrines,  her  broken  altars  ;  traitors 
among  her  self-styled  members,  and  the  blind,  and 
the  deaf,  the  blasphemer,  and  the  hypocrite  within 
her  borders.  But  this  is  only  one  phase  of  the 
visible  Church  ;  there  is  another  phase,  which  it 
would  be  well  for  those  who  deny  Divine  life  in 
the  Church  to  consider.  That  phase  is  her  work 
in  the  world.  Her  organization,  her  power,  her 
influence  for  good,  and  her  works  of  mercy  are 
historical  facts  \  and  they  tell  of  superhuman  power 
which  has  ever  been  guiding  and  upholding  the 
weak  human  agencies  employed. 

It  is  the  Church  of  Christ  that  has  preserved  the 


192  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

Scriptures,  and,  as  has  been  said  by  a  true  son  of  the 
Church,  '  Well  may  she  preserve  her  sacred  deposit ; 
for  if  to  her  we  owe  those  Scriptures,  without  those 
Scriptures  she  might  have  forgotten  her  own  origin 
and  inheritance;  for  therein  is  contained  the  charter 
of  her  Christian  privileges,  promises,  and  duties  ; 
there  we  read  of  the  Incarnate  Word,  the  great  Head 
of  the  Church,  into  whom  we  were  grafted  by  Bap- 
tism, in  whom  we  live  by  Faith,  of  whom  we  partake 
spiritually  by  Sacraments,  who  is  our 'Wisdom,  and 
Righteousness,  and  Sanctification,and  Redemption.' 
If  all  the  members  of  the  visible  Church  realized, 
as  they  ought  to  do,  what  they  owe  to  the  Church, 
in  preserving  for  them  all  the  laws  for  the  govern- 
ment of  Christ's  kingdom,  and  all  the  lessons 
which  Christ  taught,  they  would  so  love  and 
reverence  her,  and  fight  for  her,  that  even  in  the 
eyes  of  an  unbelieving  and  scoffing  world,  she 
would  be  'terrible  as  an  army  with  banners.' 
Eternity  will  disclose — what  Time  would  fail  to 
unfold — the  blessed  effect  upon  the  hearts  of 
millions  of  human  beings  of  the  Church's  echo 
through  the  ages  of  her  Lord's  eight  Beatitudes, 
which  ever  fall  upon  the  ear  and  heart  like  dew 
upon  parched  ground,  and  cause  joy  and  gladness 
to  spring  up  in  the  soul.  Each  is  a  petal  of  the 
Rose  of  Sharon,  wafted  from  the  mountain-side  to 
fill  the  wide  world  with  fragrance,  and  revive  the 
drooping  spirits  of  men. 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  193 

Strong  contrasts  are  necessary  to  enable  the 
mind  of  man  to  realize  the  great  gulf  that  lies 
between  two  opposite  things,  or  two  opposing 
forces.  The  gulf  is  usually  bridged  over  by  varying 
ways  of  stating  each  of  those  opposites,  so  that 
when  they  meet  midway,  it  is  difficult  for  even  an 
astute  and  profound  thinker,  and  impossible  for  a 
superficial  observer,  to  determine  the  precise  limits 
of  the  statements  on  either  side.  As  they  approach 
each  other  the  settings  become  less  marked  in 
character,  more  indefinite  and  uncertain.  There 
is  also  a  commingling  of  the  opposing  forces  by 
reason  of  an  existing  state  of  imperfection ;  but 
there  can  be  no  union  of  things  that  are  essentially 
opposed  to  each  other.  From  first  to  last  light  and 
darkness,  good  and  evil,  health  and  sickness,  truth 
and  falsehood  are  distinct  things.  Light  dispels 
darkness,  and  darkness  overshadows  light :  good 
overcomes  evil,  and  evil  allures  and  prevails  over 
good :  health  and  sickness  cannot  exist  together, 
neither  can  truth  and  falsehood.  At  the  opposite 
extremes  of  good  and  evil  there  are  Christ  and 
Satan,  St.  John  and  Judas,  the  mother  of  Jesus 
and  Herodias ;  but  between  such  extremes,  the 
sharp  edges  which  distinguish  one  from  the  other 
are  gradually  effaced  by  man.  The  vanishing 
point,  where  good  and  evil  cease  to  be,  is  clear 
in  the  sight  of  God ;  and  St.  Paul  sets  forth  the 
positive   separation   of    the   two    forces   when    he 

J3 


i94  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

writes,   '  For  I  know  that  in  me  (that  is,  in  my 
flesh),    dwelleth    no    good    thing :    for    to    will    is 
present  with  me  :  but  how  to  perform  that  which  is 
good  I  find  not.     For  the  good  that  I  would,  I  do 
not ;  but  the  evil  which  I  would  not,  that  I  do. 
Now,  if  I  do  that  I  would  not,  it  is  no  more  I  that 
do  it,  but  sin  that  dwelleth  in  me.     I  find  then  a 
law,  that,  when   I  would  do  good,  evil  is  present 
with  me.     For  I  delight  in  the  law  of  God  after 
the  inward  man  :   but  I  see   another   law    in    my 
members,   warring  against  the   law  of  my   mind, 
and  bringing  me  into  captivity  to  the  law  of  sin 
which  is  in  my  members.'     As  in  St.  Paul,  so  in 
each   member   of   Christ's    body,    the    two  great 
invisible    forces    confront    each    other,    and   war 
against  each  other ;  and  the  battle  goes  on  as  long 
as  this  life  lasts.     Its  progress  is  chronicled  in  the 
lives   of  men    and   women ;    in    their   words   and 
actions,  and  in   the  circles  in   which   they  move. 
Well  is  it  for  those  who,  when  the  Angel  of  Death 
touches  them,  can  say  with  St.  Paul,   '  I  am  now 
ready  to  be  offered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure 
is  at  hand.     I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have 
finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith  :  hence- 
forth there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteous- 
ness, which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge,   shall 
give  me  at  that  day  :  and  not  to  me  only,  but  unto 
all  them  also  that  love  His  appearing.'   This  warfare 
between   good  and   evil  cannot  end   until  evil  is 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  195 

rooted  out  of  Christ's  kingdom  utterly  and  for  ever. 
Until  that  day  arrives  the  tares  and  the  wheat  must 
grow  together.  Then,  in  the  time  of  harvest,  the 
wheat  will  be  garnered  for  the  Lord  of  the  harvest, 
and  the  tares  will  be  burned. 

Again,  the  antagonism  of  good  and  evil,  of  the 
Church  and  the  world,  are  manifest  in  the  fruits  of 
the  cardinal  virtue  of  love,  and  in  its  opposite, 
hate.  Christ  loved  the  world,  and  gave  Himself 
for  it.  The  world  hated  truth,  and  crucified  the 
Lord  of  Truth.  St.  Stephen  bore  witness  to  the 
truth,  and  the  world  stoned  him  to  death.  Christ 
prayed  for  His  murderers,  '  Father,  forgive  them 
for  they  know  not  what  they  do ';  and  when  His 
work  on  earth  was  accomplished,  He  entered 
heaven  as  the  King  of  Glory.  His  disciple  prayed, 
'Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge';  and  when 
he  had  said  this,  he  fell  asleep  in  the  light  of 
heaven,  for  he  '  saw  the  glory  of  God,  and  Jesus 
standing  on  the  right  hand  of  God,'  before  he  left 
his  mortal  body.  Who  can  doubt  that  the  first  of 
1  the  noble  army  of  martyrs '  lives  in  glory  with 
Him  whom  he  confessed  on  earth  in  the  last 
moments  of  his  mortal  agony  ?  Who  can  doubt 
that  the  first  confessor  of  the  faith,  who  sealed  his 
confession  with  his  blood,  and  so  won  the  martyr's 
crown,  is  a  prince  in  the  hierarchy  of  heaven,  the 
higher  region  of  the  new  kingdom  which  Christ  had 
founded  on  earth  ?     '  The  blood  of  the  martyrs  is 


196  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

the  seed  of  the  Church ';  the  path  of  suffering  is 
the  way  of  the  Cross  ;  and  if  we  examine  closely  the 
characteristics  of  the  subjects  of  Christ's  kingdom 
in  all  ages,  from  the  days  of  the  apostles  to  the 
present  time,  it  will  be  found  that  they   are   un- 
changed.    It  must  be  so,  because  their  model  is 
their  King,  and  He  has  willed  that  when  He  shall 
again  appear  His  disciples  shall  be  like  Him.    The 
new  life  given  in  baptism,  and  the  free  gift  of  grace 
ever  flowing  from  its  Source  to  sustain  that   life, 
causes  them  to  grow  like  Him ;  and  the  world  sees 
that  the  children  of  the  kingdom  are  not  like  the 
children  of  the  world.    With  all  their  imperfections, 
their  failures,    and    their  backslidings,  the  higher 
and  unseen  Power  that  is  forming  their  characters 
and  shaping  their  destiny,  takes  a  visible  form  in 
acts  of  self-denial,  in  acts  of  devotion,  in  works  of 
love  and  mercy,  in  heroic  courage,  in  doing  the 
right  when  it  would  be  more  pleasant  or  profitable 
to  do  the  wrong ;  and  often  in  entire  self-sacrifice. 
The  children  of  this  world  see  all  this  going  on 
around  them  to-day,  as  former  generations  saw  the 
same  things  ;  but,  in  these  days  of  ease  and  luxury 
and  indifferentism,  instead  of  using  the  aggressive 
weapons  of  the  older   fanaticism — which    had   at 
least  the  merit  of  reality — against  the  order  and 
usage  of  the  higher  life,  men  now  do  but  look  on, 
wonder,  or  deride,  and,  as  the  modern  phrase  goes, 
they  ■  agree  to  differ.'     So  the  tares  and  the  wheat 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  197 

grow  together  in  the  field  of  this  world.  The  tares 
far  outnumber  the  ears  of  corn,  so  that  the  Church 
is  ever  like  a  stronghold  compassed  about  and 
watched  by  enemies,  who  point  to  the  disunion 
of  the  soldiers  who  man  the  walls,  to  the  in- 
subordination and  the  shortcomings  of  individual 
members  of  the  garrison,  and  to  deserters  from  the 
Church  Army,  and  they  mockingly  ask,  '  Where  is 
the  One  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church  of  which 
you  boast  ?'  The  answer  is,  Wherever,  throughout 
the  whole  world,  '  the  Faith,  once  for  all  delivered/ 
is  held — the  truth,  as  it  was  summed  up  in  the 
last  (Ecumenical  Council  of  Nice ;  wherever  the 
sacraments  are  administered  by  duly  ordained 
priests,  according  to  Apostolic  rule ;  and  wherever 
the  Word  of  God  is  preached  in  its  entirety.  The 
Church,  in  her  material  environment,  may  appear 
to  be  weak  ;  the  branches  of  the  Vine  may  seem  to 
have  been  wrenched  from  the  stock,  but  they  are 
not  really  severed  from  the  Vine;  they  live,  and 
are  united  invisibly,  so  as  to  form  one  indestructible 
creation  of  Almighty  God. 

England  was  once  called  the  '  Isle  of  Saints ';  she 
is  now  known  as  the  '  workshop  of  the  world.' 
Has  she  then  no  saints  left  ?  Yes,  we  reply,  more 
than  in  the  olden  time.  Then,  the  people  were 
few  in  number,  and  each  holy  man  who  cared  for 
and  taught  the  poor,  and  gave  up  his  earthly  in- 
heritance to  erect  and  endow  churches  for  the  glory 


198  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

of  God  and  the  benefit  of  mankind,  was  known  to 
all.  Now  things  are  changed  ;  millions  of  men 
and  women  now  occupy  the  land  where,  in  other 
days,  there  were  but  hundreds ;  and  the  labourers 
in  the  vineyard  are  oftentimes  only  known  to  their 
Lord,  and  to  those  with  whom  they  work.  Many 
a  man  and  woman,  especially  during  the  last  half 
of  the  present  century,  has  heard  repeated  to  him 
the  cry  of  Cyprian  to  the  Church  of  Carthage, 
1  Rise  to  your  birthright ';  and  uncounted  numbers 
have  arisen  from  slumber,  and  in  response  to  the 
cry  have  put  on  the  whole  armour  of  God,  which 
is  stored  up  and  ever  ready  for  use  in  the  Church. 
They  have  gone  forth  in  the  path  of  duty,  proving 
that  in  all  ages,  living  stones,  like  unto  those 
which  were  chosen  by  Christ  for  the  founda- 
tions of  His  church,  are  to  be  found  to  add 
to  the  building.  They  are  polished  by  the  same 
means,  and  fitted  by  the  same  Master  Builder  for 
the  place  which  each  is  to  occupy.  The  stake,  the 
fire,  and  the  sword,  are  not  the  weapons  which  the 
world  now  uses  against  those  members  of  Christ's 
body  who  try  to  walk  in  their  Master's  footprints. 
Those  deadly  weapons  did  their  work  quickly  and 
well;  but  the  world  now  thinks  them  barbarous 
and  cruel,  and  has  substituted  slander,  contempt, 
and  mockery,  which  never  kill,  only  keep  the 
victims  writhing  like  a  worm  upon  a  hook.  Some, 
alas  !   have  not  been  strong  enough  to  resist  the 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  199 

prolonged  torture,  and  have  left  the  Mother  who 

nursed  them.     They  left  the  good  old  ship,  which 

had  safely  landed  so  many  on  the  heavenly  shore 

— when   she   seemed  most  to  need   their  help — 

because  they  vainly  dreamed  that  rest  and  peace 

might  be  found  elsewhere. 

*  They  saw  the  ship  by  many  a  tempest  toss'd, 
Her  rudder  broken  and  her  tackling  lost ; 
Left  her  to  sink  without  their  helping  hand,  ? 

Looked  to  themselves,  and  basely  'scaped  to  land. 

They  did  so  to  their  own   great  loss,  for  in   the 

tempest-tossed  vessel  which  they  left  God  Himself 

had   placed   them.      True   to  their  Captain,  and 

loving  the  old  ship  all  the  more  because  she  seemed 

to  be  in  danger  of  losing  more  than  had  already 

been  taken  from  her,  others  have  remained  faithful, 

echoing  the  words  of  one  who   himself  fought  a 

good  fight : 

'  But  shall  I,  too,  the  sinking  ship  forsake  ? 
Forbid,  it,  Heaven,  or  take  my  spirit  back  ! 
No,  ye  diviners  sage  ;  your  hope  is  vain.  _ 
While  but  one  fragment  of  our  ship  remain, 
That  single  fragment  shall  my  soul  sustain  : 
Bound  to  that  sacred  plank,  my  soul  defies 
The  great  abyss,  and  dares  all  hell  to  rise, 
Assured  that  Christ  on  that  shall  bear  me  to  the  skies.  * 

Since  those  words  were  first  written,  the  old  ship 
has  been  righting  herself;  trimming  her  sails, 
strengthening  her  bulwarks,  opening  her  port-holes, 
so  that  the  sunlight  of  heaven,  and  the  fresh,  life- 

*  Charles  Wesley. 


I 


200  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

giving  breezes  of  the  ocean  of  truth  may  penetrate 
to  the  innermost  recesses,  and  purify  and  strengthen 
her  for  the  work  she  has  to  do.  That  work  is 
harder,  and  higher,  and  nobler  than  the  world  can 
understand,  or  than  most  of  her  own  sons  and 
daughters  realize.  It  is  co-extensive  with  God's 
purpose,  and  man's  necessities. 

Has  God  given  to  England,  or  allowed  her  to 
acquire  and  annex  the  vast  empire  over  which  she 
now  rules,  only  in  order  that  she  may  increase  her 
worldly  power  and  glory  ?  Has  He  permitted  her 
to  extend  her  sway  east,  west,  north,  and  south, 
merely  that  her  fleet  may  ride  at  anchor,  with 
England's  flag  flying  at  the  mast-head,  in  all  seas, 
and  her  merchants  trade  unmolested  with  all 
lands,  only  to  enrich  themselves  and  their  country  ? 
Has  God  permitted  the  Imperial  crown  of  India  to 
be  placed  upon  the  head  of  the  sovereign  of  England 
simply  to  make  that  monarch's  name  a  greater 
power  among  the  millions  of  Orientals  over  whom 
she  reigns,  and  to  set,  as  it  were,  the  seal  upon  the 
conquest  of  India  ?  Not  for  these  things  has  the 
King  of  kings  given  such  world-wide  power  to 
England !  Not  for  the  accomplishment  of  these 
transitory  objects,  save  as  means  to  an  end,  has 
He  given  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  their  keen 
insight,  their  love  of  knowledge,  their  dogged  per- 
severance, their  indomitable  courage,  their  love  of 
freedom  and  adventure,  their  marked  aptitude  for 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  201 

adapting  themselves  to  surrounding  circumstances 
and  varying  climates,  their  physical  strength,  and 
their  power  of  endurance.  Well  may  St.  Cyprian's 
cry,  '  Rise  to  your  birthright,'  be  proclaimed  by  the 
Church,  and  by  the  senate,  as  the  paramount  duty 
of  every  Anglo-Saxon.  The  Ruler  of  kings  and 
nations  seems  to  have  put  England,  with  her 
Church  and  people,  in  a  position  like  that  in  which 
Pharaoh  placed  Joseph,  when  he  decreed,  '  Only  in 
the  throne  will  I  be  greater  than  thou.'  No  human 
power  could  uphold  and  bind  together  the  British 
Empire,  even  for  a  day  ;  for  human  power  is  weak- 
ness, unless  it  has  with  it  that  superhuman  spiritual  . 
life  which  only  the  Divine  Being  can  impart  to 
man.  '  Rise  to  your  birthright '  means,  Man,  learn 
to  know  thyself,  to  understand  (1)  who  and  what 
you  are;  (2)  what  you  have  to  do,  and  to  whom 
you  are  accountable;  (3)  to  'quit  you  like  men.' 
The  world  needs  you.  God  has  set  work  before 
you,  and  He  has  given  dominion,  and  power,  and 
opportunity,  and  means  to  accomplish  that  work. 
Do  it  well  and  thoroughly  for  the  Master's  sake. 
As  surely  as  man  turns  a  deaf  ear  to  that  cry  will 
the  sentence  of  the  Judge  be  pronounced,  '  Thou 
art  weighed  in  the  balances  and  found  wanting,'  and 
then  England's  power  will  wane,  and  her  empire  be 
broken  into  fragments. 

To  every  human  being  the  words  '  Give  an  ac- 
count of  thy  stewardship '  will  one  day  be  spoken ; 


202  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

and  when  it  is  remembered  that  to  whom  much  is 
given  of  them  much  will  be  required,  each  subject 
of  the  British  empire  who  realizes,  in  however  small 
a  degree,  his  individual  responsibility  and  influence 
may  well  tremble  at  the  thought,  that  the  Omni- 
present One  will  measure  his  work  with  the  in- 
finite line  of  His  justice,  will  scan  his  motives 
and  weigh  his  capabilities,  means,  and  oppor- 
tunities. Men  should  pause  in  their  career  to  ask 
themselves,  Am  I  doing  the  work  assigned  to  me  ? 
Am  I  doing  my  best?  What  use  am  I  making  of 
my  brains  and  hands  ?  Am  I  occupying  the  time 
given  to  me,  or  am  I  letting  it  slip  by,  moment  after 
moment,  hour  after  hour,  day  after  day,  with  no 
record  that  will  bear  the  light  of  day  or  stand  the 
test  of  judgment  ?  If,  as  the  light  of  the  sun  faded 
daily  in  the  west,  each  man  and  woman  would  ask 
the  question,  'What  have  I  done  this  day  for  Him 
who  made  me  and  redeemed  me,  and  who  gave  me 
all  I  have  that  is  worth  having?'  what  would  be 
the  reply,  even  in  the  case  of  many  professing 
Christians  ? 

Man  cannot  rise  to  his  birthright  privileges  until 
he  ceases  to  regard  himself  as  a  separate  being  from 
God.  As  long  as  he  chooses  to  consider  himself 
an  irresponsible  unit,  and  to  believe  that  he  has  a 
perfect  right  to  live  for  himself  alone,  and  to  do 
what  he  pleases,  physically,  morally,  and  intellec- 
tually, without  regard  to  the  effect  of  his  life  upon 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  203 

others,  he  cannot  understand  what  his  birthright 
privileges  are,  and  therefore  he  readily  enough 
casts  the  claim  from  him.  If  he  be  one  of  those 
who  are  endowed  with  great  mental  and  physical 
gifts — with  the  wealth  and  rank  which  give  him 
more  than  ordinary  influence,  he,  of  necessity,  in 
casting  the  claim  aside,  reduces  himself  to  a  lower 
level  than  that  which  those  not  so  gifted  occupy 
in  the  sight  of  the  just  Judge.  Someone  has  truly 
said,  'We  are  nearer  to  wisdom  when  we  stoop 
than  when  we  soar,'  for  there  is  real  greatness  in 
true  humility  and  much  littleness  in  self-assumption. 
The  former  is  not  appreciated  by  the  world  ;  the 
latter  generally  makes  headway ;  yet  the  force  un- 
derlying humility  always  exercises — unconsciously 
to  its  possessor — great  and  lasting  influence,  where- 
as the  spirit  of  egoism  passes  along  its  self-chosen 
path  with  a  flourish  of  trumpets,  little  thinking  that 
the  noise,  and  those  who  make  it,  will  soon  be 
forgotten. 

More  than  eighteen  centuries  ago  it  was  said  to 
the  Athenians  by  St.  Paul,  '  God  hath  appointed  a 
day  in  which  he  will  judge  the  world  in  righteous- 
ness by  that  man  whom  he  hath  ordained,  whereof 
he  hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men  in  that  he 
hath  raised  him  from  the  dead.'  The  Church  year 
by  year  repeats  the  solemn  words  to  the  men  and 
women  of  this  generation  ;  and  tells  them  that 
when  '  the  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in   His  glory, 


2o4  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

and  all  His  holy  angels  with  Him  ;  and  shall  sit  on 
the  throne  of  His  glory,  and  before  Him  shall  be 
gathered  all  nations,'  each  individual  of  the  human 
race   must   give    an    account    of   his    stewardship. 
Then  the  faithful  stewards  will  receive  the  due  re- 
ward of  their  labours,  and  the  unfaithful  will  be 
punished  for  leaving  undone  what  they  ought  to 
have  done.     Bearing  in  mind  the  inevitable  effect 
for  good  or  evil  which  the  life  of  every  man  exercises 
on  those  around  him — just  as  a  pure  or  impure 
atmosphere  affects  the  material  body — the  influence 
that  the  rulers  of  the  British  empire  must  exert  in 
the  world  approximates  to  the   infinite  :    and  the 
position  of  England,  her  Church,  her  people,  and 
her  language,  involves  so  vast  a  stewardship  that 
even  an  imperfect  realization  of  the  responsibility 
attaching  to  it  would  overwhelm  the  mind,  were  it 
not  for  the   fact  which  is  revealed  by  God,  and 
proved  by  history,  that  in  all  ages  when  the  Almighty 
has  given  some  man  or  nation  a  great  and  seem- 
ingly impossible  work  to  do  He  has  always  said  in 
effect,   '  Obey  \  go  forward ;  /  will   be  with  you.' 
*  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  you.'     Who  that  has  a 
spark   of  true  manliness  in  him   could   read  that 
touching  appeal  of  the  Creator  to  His  people  in 
the  earlier  days,  *  What  could  have  been  done  more 
to  My  vineyard,  that  I  have  not  done  in  it  ?'  and 
fail  to  realize  that  God  might  say  those  very  words 
to  England  at  the  present  day  ?     And  if  He  should 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  205 

add,  '  Give  an  account  of  thy  stewardship,'  what 
could  England  answer  ?  She  has  taken  possession 
of  other  lands,  and  peopled  them  with  her  own  sons 
and  daughters.  She  has  introduced  European 
civilization,  and  with  it  the  peculiar  vices  of  civiliza- 
tion ;  but  what,  as  a  nation,  has  she  done  for  the 
original  inhabitants  of  the  territories  that  have  been 
added  to  her  empire  ?  She  has  constituted  herself 
guardian  of  India,  and  has  acquired  untold  wealth 
and  power  in  the  East  by  her  self-imposed  pro- 
tectorate of  that  enormous  country ;  but  has  she 
made  one  single  national  effort  to  reach  the  heart 
of  India,  to  get  in  touch  with  the  susceptible 
nature  of  Orientals  ?  If,  since  England  became 
guardian  of  India,  she  had  taken  means  to  learn 
more  of  India's  past  history  ;  if  she  had  gathered 
all  of  truth  and  all  that  is  Christ-like  in  the  various 
forms  of  religion  that  prevail  in  that  land,  and  had 
shown  the  people  that  the  English  believed  virtually 
the  same  truths,  India  might  now  be  all  our  own 
in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word.  India  owns  the 
sway  of  the  British  sceptre  because  it  is  her  interest 
to  do  so,  and  because  she  prospers  under  English 
rule ;  but,  except  in  a  worldly  sense,  India  and 
England  are  strangers  still.  There  is  at  present  no 
lasting  bond  of  union,  for  the  chains  that  link  them 
together  are  forged  by  interest  and  expediency. 

Christ  came  into  this  world,  and,  as  man,  pre- 
pared Himself  during  thirty  years  to  be  a  Teacher 


206  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

of  men,  and  then  stood  forth  alone  proclaiming 
Himself  to  be  'the  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life  '; 
and  so  men  of  Christ-like  minds  have  left  home  and 
country,  and,  in  the  strength  of  Christ,  have  gone 
forth  alone  to  distant  lands  and  have  done  what 
they  could  :  and  their  testimony  has  converted  foes 
into  friends,  and  aliens  in  blood,  heart  and  creed, 
into  brothers,  and  made  them  heirs  of  the  same 
kingdom.  What  Christian  can  look  upon  the  late 
venerable  Negro  Bishop  of  Africa  and  read  the 
story  of  his  life  without  feeling  that  in  Christ  all 
men  are  brothers  ? 

England's  glory  is  her  Church  ;  the  strength  of 
England,  and  the  palladium  of  her  ancient  monarchy, 
is  the  Church.  The  truest  sons  and  daughters  of 
the  Church  know  that  it  is  so  ;  for,  as  members  of 
Christ's  body,  they  must  be  loyal  to  their  Head  ; 
and  they  know  it  is  by  Him  kings  reign.  He 
setteth  up  one  and  putteth  down  another.  There- 
fore they  are  ever  the  truest  patriots.  When 
anarchy  and  rebellion  threaten,  their  cry '  For  King 
and  Country '  is  always  heard,  and  rarely,  perhaps 
never,  do  they  fail  in  their  loyalty,  unless  they  are 
ordered  to  do  that  which  they  believe  to  be  con- 
trary to  the  will  of  the  King  of  kings.  '  Render 
unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's  ;  and  unto 
God  the  things  that  are  God's.'  Individually,  the 
hardest  workers  in  the  Lord's  vineyard  do  what 
they  can  to  advance  the  new  kingdom  and  bring 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  207 

wanderers  into  the  fold.  The  Holy  Spirit  calls 
them  to  rise  up,  and  go  to  some  distant  spot  where 
the  people  are  still  in  darkness  ;  or  into  the  far 
darker  places  of  great  cities,  where  into  the  most 
loathsome  dens  of  infamy  no  ray  of  light  has  pene- 
trated— except,  perhaps,  a  flickering  one  from  the 
window  of  a  gorgeous  gin-palace  hard  by — and  they 
go.  Still  this  is  but  the  power  of  individuals,  and, 
as  such,  it  is  necessarily  circumscribed  in  its  sphere. 
England,  as  a  nation,  has  not  risen  to  her  birth- 
right. The  Church  sends  out  her  priests  and 
bishops  to  do  their  appointed  work  ;  but  England 
does  not  stretch  forth  her  arm  of  power  to  protect 
the  uncivilized  races  of  the  lands  she  has  made  her 
own,  against  vices  of  which  the  aborigines  knew 
nothing  until  the  white  man  came.  The  Church 
will,  we  know,  conquer  in  the  end  ;  but  woe  to 
the  nation  that  hinders  her  work  by  not  supporting 
her  with  its  might. 

The  world  would,  of  course,  scoff  at  the  idea  of 
the  Church  being  the  strength  of  England  ;  but 
that  the  idea  is  not  a  phantom  but  a  great  reality 
is  easily  proved.  Granted,  for  the  sake  of  argu- 
ment, that  the  Church  is  only  a  human  institution ; 
since  that  is  the  only  ground  on  which  an  unbeliever 
in  its  Divine  origin  can  stand.  At  the  outset  he 
would  find  himself  face  to  face  with  incontestable 
facts.  This  is  one— the  Church  is  a  Teacher.  She 
inculcates  obedience  to  law  and  order  and  to  all 


208  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

who  are  in  authority.  She  directs  subjects  to  sub- 
mit themselves  to  the  ruler  who  is  set  over  them, 
teaches  children  to  be  obedient  to  their  parents, 
servants  to  obey  their  masters,  '  not  with  eye- 
service  as  men-pleasers,  but  in  singleness  of  heart, 
fearing  God.'  She  enforces  on  men  the  necessity 
of  obeying  the  Decalogue.  She  builds  schools  for 
training  the  young,  because  she  believes  in  Him 
who  has  said,  '  Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he 
should  go,  and  when  he  is  old  he  will  not  depart 
from  it.'  She  builds  alms-houses  for  sheltering 
the  aged  poor,  refuges  for  the  penitent,  asylums  for 
the  blind  and  the  deaf  and  dumb  ;  hospitals  for  the 
sick  ;  in  short,  she,  as  a  whole,  working  in  and  by 
her  members,  maintains  the  whole  social  status  of 
England  on  its  present  level.  The  sovereign  of 
England  has  a  solemn  oath  to  take  before  the  crown 
can  be  worn,  or  the  sceptre  held.  Blot  out  that 
oath  ;  cast  away  the  ancient  ceremony  of  the  coro- 
nation as  useless  and  unmeaning— which  it  is  if 
the  sovereign  is  not  responsible  and  accountable 
to  a  higher  authority ;  remove  the  archbishops  and 
bishops  from  their  thrones  as  being  self-appointed 
authorities,  and  claimants  of  power  which  does  not 
belong  to  them.  Level  every  cathedral  and 
church  to  the  ground,  and  turn  all  Church  institu- 
tions into  places  of  amusement.  Banish  every 
member  of  the  Church  who  is  teaching,  nursing, 
and  helping  the  poor,  and  send  out  of  the  country 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  209 

with  them  all  those  who,  by  their  means,  have  been 
turned  out  of  the  path  of  evil  into  a  better  way. 
Destroy  every  vestige  of  Church  art  wherever  it  may 
be  found,  from  the  masterpieces  of  Raphael  and 
Murillo  to  the  engraving  of  the  'Good  Shepherd.' 
Suppress  every  note  of  music  that  has  a  Church 
ring  in  it,  from  Handel's  '  Messiah  '  to  Sullivan's 
1  Lost  Chord.'  Sweep  away  every  poem  that  treats 
of  immortality  and  of  the  higher  life  of  man  in 
Christ ;  and  all  literature  that  teaches  man  what  he 
is,  or  ought  to  be,  and  what  he  may  be.  Strike  at 
the  root  of  every  aspiration  beyond  the  region  of 
materialism.  Sap  the  foundations  of  belief  in  the 
holy  Catholic  Church ;  the  personality  and  teach- 
ing of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  the  communion  of  saints  ; 
the  forgiveness  of  sins  ;  the  resurrection  of  the 
body,  and  the  life  everlasting.  Do  all  this  and 
what  will  be  left?  What  would  England  be  if  it 
were  robbed  of  all  these  things  ? 

Let  every  cultured  unbeliever  honestly  face  that 
question.  He  would  be  a  bold  man  who  would 
venture  to  assert  that  the  island -home  of  which 
Englishmen  are  so  proud  would  be  other  than  a 
pandemonium.  And,  with  all  else  that  the  Church 
has  given,  hope  would  depart;  yet  without  hope 
what  is  life  worth  ?  The  man  who  is  without  faith 
and  hope  cannot  rise  above  the  dead  level  indi- 
cated by  the  words, '  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to- 
morrow we  die.'     Compared  with  such  as  these 

14 


210  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

to  what  a  height  had  the  noble  Hebrew  woman, 
mentioned  in  the  Second  Book  of  Maccabees,  at- 
tained when  she  exhorted  her  seven  sons  in  turn 
to  resist  the  commands  of  a  profane  tyrant.  She 
knew  nothing  of  the  glorious  revelation  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  nor  the  power  of  His  resurrec- 
tion ;  but  the  faith  of  the  Father  of  the  faithful 
enabled  her  to  say,  as  each  of  her  sons  went  forth 
to  his  martyrdom,  'I  know  not  how  you  were 
formed  in  my  womb ;  for  I  neither  gave  you 
breath,  nor  soul,  nor  life,  neither  did  I  frame  the 
limbs  of  every  one  of  you  ;  but  the  Creator  of  the 
world,  that  formed  the  nativity  of  man,  that  found 
out  the  origin  of  all,  He  will  restore  to  you  again 
in  His  mercy  both  breath  and  life.' 

If  the  work  of  the  visible  Church  can  accomplish 
so  much  that  even  her  enemies  are  constrained 
to  admit  that  practically  they  could  not  '  get  on ' 
without  her,  and  that  somehow  her  influence  helps 
them  to  keep  the  existing  conditions  of  life  from 
getting  worse  than  they  are,  is  it  not  marvellous 
that  men  of  deep  learning  and  acute  observation 
do  not  try  to  solve  the  problem  :  '  How  has  the 
Church  come  to  acquire  the  power  which  has 
established  her  in  the  world  ;  which  sustains  her, 
and  causes  her  to  grow  wherever  she  is  planted,  even 
in  the  midst  of  adverse  elements  ;  which  has  given 
her  such  a  mighty  empire  over  the  minds  of  men, 
over  minds  of  profound  depth,  expansive  tendencies, 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  211 

and  intellectual  faculties  of  the  highest  order?' 
In  science  men  have  to  work  backward.  They 
have  fact  before  them,  and  that  is,  necessarily,  the 
starting-point;  as,  for  instance,  in  the  force  of 
gravitation :  its  effect  and  ultimate  result  led  to  a 
knowledge  and  study  of  the  law.  In  the  case  of 
that  kingdom  which  is  in  the  world,  but  not  of  it ; 
the  kingdom  which  is  to  be  universal  and  everlast 
ing — in  other  words,  the  Church  of  God— it  is 
different.  Man  may  commence  his  study  of  the 
question  with  the  Founder,  or  work  backward  to 
Him.  The  result  will  be  the  same  ;  there  is  clear, 
historical  evidence  that  all  the  good  which  Chris- 
tianity has  brought  to  mankind  flows  from  its 
Source — the  Man  who  was  crucified  on  Mount 
Calvary.  The  men  of  that  day,  who  knew  not 
what  they  were  doing,  mocked  at  and  passed  by 
the  Cross,  as  those  who  follow  in  their  footprints 
do  to-day;  for  the  centuries  that  have  rolled 
between  what  was  then  and  what  is  now  have  not 
changed  the  heart  of  man.  The  Church  militant, 
though  a  mighty  power  in  the  world,  is  no  more  to 
that  proud  world  than  the  Son  of  God  was  to  the 
blind,  Pharisaical  Jews  and  the  haughty  Romans, 
when  He  went  from  city  to  city  doing  good  and 
reproving  vice.  'As  with  the  Head,  so  with  the 
members.'  The  sun  of  the  Christian  system  set 
to  the  world  when  the  last  words  of  the  Saviour, 
1  Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  commend  My  spirit,' 


212  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

were  uttered.  It  rose  again,  unseen  by  the  world, 
on  the  third  day  ;  but  the  infant  Church  saw  it,  and 
believed  in  its  eternal  glory.  In  all  succeeding  ages 
her  children  have  manifested  their  faith  by  their 
works.  They  have  laboured,  and  fought,  and  died 
for  her ;  for  her  divine  life  is  also  their  life.  They 
live  here  below  as  pilgrims  seeking  a  better  country, 
and  when  they  seem  to  die  they  do  but  close  their 
mortal  eyes,  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  soul  in  their 
true  home.  Here  they  have  to  'wrestle  against 
principalities,  against  powers,  against  the  rulers  of 
the  darkness  of  this  world,  against  spiritual  wicked- 
ness in  high  places,  against  the  prince  of  the  power 
of  the  air.'  Wordsworth  says  (in  note  on  Eph.  ii.  2), 
'  Satan  and  his  angels  being  cast  down  from  heaven, 
but  not  being  yet  consigned  to  hell,  have  their 
empire  in  this  lower  air,  and  are  therefore  called 
powers  of  the  air  and  of  darkness.'  And  St.  Jerome 
says,  '  It  is  the  opinion  of  all  the  Doctors  of  the 
Church  that  the  intervening  air  between  heaven 
and  earth  is  full  of  adverse  powers.' 

The  experience  of  God's  children  in  every  age — 
not  excepting  the  present  age  of  reason  —  bears 
testimony  to  the  truth  of  Revelation  on  this  subject. 
Who  is  free  from  evil  thoughts,  which  come  sud- 
denly from  without,  as  if  whispered  in  the  ear,  when 
the  mind  is  intent  upon  other  things ;  sometimes 
they  come  in  horrible  dreams,  when,  perhaps,  the 
last  waking  thought  of  the  sleeper  was  embodied 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  213 

in  the  words,  '  Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  commend 
my  spirit.'  Who  has  not  sometimes  felt  tempted 
to  do  the  very  thing  he  would  not  do,  and  which 
his  soul  abhors  ?  The  devil  tempted  Christ  and 
failed ;  he  and  his  angels  tempt  man,  and  too  often 
succeed.  God's  greatest  saints  are  often  the  most 
sorely  tempted,  as  in  the  case  of  the  patriarch  Job ; 
but  God  and  His  angels  of  light  are  looking  en, 
and  when  faith  has  been  tried,  when  suffering  has 
done  its  work,  when  the  fire  has  purified  the  gold, 
then  one  of  those  ministering  spirits  sent  forth  to 
minister  to  them  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation, 
snatches  the  gold  from  the  crucible,  and  stores  it 
in  God's  treasure-house,  leaving  the  dross  on  earth, 
and  the  tempter  foiled.  That  the  path  of  suffering 
is  the  one  that  leads  to  glory  none  can  doubt, 
because  it  is  the  one  the  Master  trod ;  but,  as, 
when  the  night  was  darkest  with  Christ,  angels 
came  and  ministered  unto  Him,  so  they  come  to 
us  ;  unseen,  it  may  be,  by  most  of  God's  children, 
but  visible  to  those  to  whom  is  given  extended 
power  of  sight ;  and  such  power  comes  not  by  the 
working  of  some  law,  which  man,  perchance,  might 
call  a  miracle,  but  by  the  operation  of  the  laws 
already  established,  as  these  act  upon  what  is  made 
ready  to  receive  its  impressions.  Just  as  in  the 
kingdom  of  Nature  there  may  be  two  rosebuds  on 
the  same  stem ;  the  sunlight  falls  equally  on  both, 
and  the  one  opens  and  blossoms  into  beauty,  while 


214  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

the  other,  by  reason  of  less  vitality,  or  of  some 
hidden  blight,  never  unfolds  its  petals  at  all.  When 
men  cavil  at  and  argue  about  miracles,  they  forget 
that  words  are  coined  by  men  ;  and  words  in  many 
instances  may  be  called  necessary  evils  ;  though  we 
cannot  do  without  them.  They  are  often  quite 
inadequate  to  convey  the  full  meaning,  or  even  a 
partially  correct  idea,  of  what  is  in  the  mind  of  a 
speaker,  unless  the  person  who  is  addressed  is  like- 
minded.  Words  are  constantly  misunderstood, 
and  none  more  persistently  than  the  word  '  miracle,' 
which  simply  means  something  wonderful,  and 
beyond  explanation  on  ordinary  human  lines. 
Miracle  is  the  best  word  at  man's  command  for 
embodying  in  a  concise  form  the  expansive  and 
illimitable  force  of  God's  laws,  whenever  He  sees 
well  to  give  visible  signs  of  the  subtlety  and  incon- 
ceivable power  of  His  will  working  by  law. 

Those  who  open  their  eyes  to  the  light  when  it 
shines  upon  them,  who  do  not  close  their  eyes  to 
the  innumerable  proofs  in  the  visible  universe  of 
the  infinitely  greater  unseen  creation  of  which  Holy 
Scripture  tells  us,  see  in  the  God-man  that  centre 
of  power  and  unity,  which  makes  the  visible  and 
the  invisible  one  continuous  act  of  Divine  power ; 
and  to  them  the  miracles  of  our  Lord  in  healing 
the  sick  are  but  proofs  of  His  perfect  knowledge 
of  what,  in  each  case,  was  needed,  and  of  His 
almighty  power  to  apply  the  remedy.    He  who  did 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  215 

such  mighty  works  has  told  His  servants  to  '  work 
while  it  is  day ;'  that  is,  to  do  their  duty  in  that 
state  of  life  in  which  they  are  placed,  and  by  so 
doing  prepare  themselves  for  that  higher  life  which 
is  to  come.  Countless  as  are  the  members  of  the 
human  family,  so  are  the  kinds  of  sacrifice  which 
God  requires  of  them ;  for  every  sacrifice  must  be 
the  expression  of  the  individual,  and  no  two 
persons  are  precisely  alike  in  thought  or  feeling. 
That  which  would  be  a  great  sacrifice  to  one  person, 
would  be  no  sacrifice  to  another.  It  follows, 
therefore,  that  man  can  only  judge  of  the  moral 
influence  of  the  law  of  sacrifice  by  observing  that 
certain  causes  lead  to  certain  results ;  that  high 
principles  and  faith  in  God  shape  themselves  into 
noble  deeds.  Father  Damien  and  Chinese  Gordon 
are  modern  illustrations  of  self-sacrifice. 

Those  who  in  this  world  find  and  keep  in 
the  narrow  path  of  duty  will  form  the  Church  of 
the  firstborn,  of  whom  St.  John  writes,  '  I  saw 
thrones,  and  they ' — the  blessed  ones  called  unto 
the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb — '  sat  upon  them, 
and  judgment  was  given  unto  them  :  and  I  saw 
the  souls  of  them  that  were  beheaded  for  the  wit- 
ness of  Jesus,  and  for  the  Word  of  God,  and  which 
had  not  worshipped  the  beast,  neither  his  image, 
neither  had  received  his  mark  upon  their  foreheads, 
or  in  their  hands ;  and  they  lived  and  reigned  with 
Christ  a  thousand  years.     But  the  rest  of  the  dead 


216  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

lived  not  again  until  the  thousand  years  were 
finished.  This  is  the  first  resurrection.  Blessed 
and  holy  is  he  that  hath  part  in  the  first  resurrec- 
tion :  on  such  the  second  death  hath  no  power, 
but  they  shall  be  priests  of  God  and  of  Christ,  and 
shall  reign  with  Him  a  thousand  years.'  '  Write,' 
said  a  voice  which  came  out  of  the  throne,  saying, 
'Praise  our  God,  all  ye  His  servants,  and  ye  that 
fear  Him,  both  small  and  great.'  'Write,'  said  the 
1  voice '  to  Sr.  John  in  Patmos,  '  Blessed  are  they 
which  are  called  to  the  marriage  supper  of  the 
Lamb.'  And  he  who  spoke  added,  'These  are 
the  true  sayings  of  God.'  Then,  the  '  beloved  dis- 
ciple '  tells  us,  '  I  fell  at  His  feet  to  worship  Him. 
And  He  said  unto  me,  See  thou  do  it  not :  I  am 
thy  fellow-servant,  and  of  thy  brethren  that  have 
the  testimony  of  Jesus  :  worship  God  :  for  the 
testimony  of  Jesus  is  the  spirit  of  prophecy.' 
Those  inspired  words  raised  the  veil  which  in 
part  prevented  even  St.  John  from  seeing  clearly. 
The  'voice'  came  out  of  the  throne,  and  the  holy 
man  thought  it  was  the  voice  of  God,  and  fell 
down  to  worship  Him  that  spake.  St.  John  had 
not  then,  in  his  deep  humility,  learned  how  en- 
tirely the  soul  of  redeemed  man  is  one  with  God. 
His  mistake  became  the  occasion  for  the  glorious 
revelation  of  the  harmony  in  heaven,  which  will 
be  so  perfect,  that  the  voice  of  God  and  man 
will  be  as  one.     Man's  nearness  to  God  is  pro- 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  217 

claimed  by  the  '  voice  '  proceeding  from  the  throne 
on  which  God  was  seated.  Yet  the  revelation 
vouchsafed  to  St.  John  was  but  a  confirmation 
of  the  words  which  Jesus  spoke  on  earth  of  His 
disciples,  when  He  prayed  to  His  Father  for  them, 
and  not  for  them  alone,  but  for  them  also  which 
should  believe  on  Him  through  their  word  :  4  The 
glory  which  Thou  gavest  me  I  have  given  them  ; 
that  they  may  be  one,  even  as  we  are  one :  I  in 
them,  and  Thou  in  Me,  that  they  may  be  made 
perfect  in  one ;  and  that  the  world  may  know  that 
Thou  hast  sent  Me,  and  hast  loved  them  as  Thou 
hast  loved  Me.*  St.  Paul,  writing  '  to  the  saints  and 
faithful  brethren  in  Christ '  at  Colosse,  says,  '  we 
do  not  cease  to  pray  for  you,  and  to  desire  that  ye 
might  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  His  will  in 
all  wisdom  and  spiritual  understanding ;  that  ye 
might  walk  worthy  of  the  Lord  unto  all  pleasing, 
being  fruitful  in  every  good  work,  and  increasing 
in  the  knowledge  of  God;  strengthened  with  all 
might,  according  to  His  glorious  power,  unto  all 
patience  and  long-suffering  with  joyfulness,  giving 
thanks  unto  the  Father,  which  hath  made  us  meet 
to  be  partakers  of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
light :  Who  hath  delivered  us  from  the  power  of 
darkness,  and  hath  translated  us  into  the  kingdom 
of  His  dear  Son.' 

In   these   passages    of    Holy   Scripture,   man's 
character,  his  greatness,  and  his  destiny,  are  plainly 


218  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

revealed.  With  evidences  of  the  antiquity  of  the 
Old  Testament  prophecies,  and  the  proofs  of  their 
fulfilment  in  the  New  Testament,  and  in  secular 
history,  man  is  inexcusable  if  he  fails  to  apprehend 
that  his  composite  nature  is  both  Divine  and 
human.  He  is  what  God  made  him,  whether  he 
knows  it  or  not;  and  he  is  responsible  for  not 
knowing  and  believing,  because  he  is  a  free  agent. 
Why,  then,  does  he  not  '  rise  to  his  birthright,'  and 
maintain  his  position  ?  Simply  because  he  wills 
to  do  what  Eve  did  in  the  garden  of  Eden  :  he 
listens  'to  cunningly  devised  fables.'  The  dark- 
ness that  has  been  gathering  and  increasing  in 
volume  and  density,  century  after  century,  around 
this  vital  subject  seems  to  be  Satan's  masterpiece. 
As  long  as  he  can  make  man  forget  who  and  what 
he  is,  he  knows  that  his  work  is  comparatively 
easy  ;  since,  apart  from  God  and  immortality,  there 
is  nothing  worth  living  for.  It  is  a  Satanic  work  to 
cast  the  dark  pall  of  unbelief  in  the  supernatural 
over  the  mind  of  man ;  because,  severed  from  the 
supernatural,  the  world  itself  is  but  as  a  kaleido- 
scope, and  man  one  of  its  shifting  particles.  It  is 
only  as  a  great  fair,  and  men  and  women  are  the 
puppets,  dancing,  singing,  or  working  at  some  toy, 
with  head  or  hands,  until  the  time  comes  when 
they  must  go  off  the  stage  to  make  room  for 
others. 

Some  Christians  feel  that  it  is  their  duty  and 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  219 

privilege  to  pray  for  those  who,  because  they  do 
not  believe  in  the  '  Hearer  and  Answerer  of  Prayer,' 
cannot  pray  for  themselves.  They  pray  for  the 
living  and  for  the  departed,  for  in  so  doing  they 
know  that  they  are  following  the  example  of  their 
Lord,  since  prayers  for  the  dead  are  known  to  have 
been  a  part  of  the  services  of  the  Temple,  in  which 
He  joined.  They  believe  that  '  if  there  is  really 
any  organized  connection  between  the  present  and 
the  future  life,  it  follows  that  we  who  are  alive  and 
those  who  are  dead  must  constitute  one  organic 
body,  intimately  united.  This  union  must  be  a 
union  not  merely  in  word,  but  in  reality.  It  must 
be  the  same  kind  of  union  as  that  which  binds  us 
together  in  this  life  with  the  same  obligations  and 
the  same  privileges.  The  brotherhood  of  humanity 
extends  beyond  the  grave,  and  is  not  limited  by  the 
accidents  of  the  temporal  and  corporeal  senses.'  St. 
Paul  says,  '  If  so  be  that  we  suffer  with  Him,  that  we 
may  be  also  glorified  together.'  Hence  the  practical 
nature  of  prayer  for  one  another,  and  the  consequent 
value  of  it.  Human  society,  whether  under  its  secular 
or  spiritual  aspect,  being  so  constituted  that  each 
of  us  has  it  in  his  or  her  power  to  confer  benefits 
upon  others  by  direct  personal  action,  it  follows, 
as  a  matter  of  necessity,  that  as  prayer  for  our- 
selves ensures  personal  blessings,  so  intercessory 
prayers  are  but  the  complement  of  our  direct 
activity  of  service  on  behalf  of  a  brother.     Why 


220  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

then  is  this  intercessory  prayer  to  be  cut  short  at 
the  moment  of  death,  as  some  believe  it  is?  If 
our  brotherhood  lasts  beyond  the  grave,  how  can 
we  suppose  that  its  spiritual  privileges  are  suddenly 
annihilated  ?  Christ  on  His  mediatorial  throne  is 
ever  praying  for  us.  St.  John  saw  '  the  four-and- 
twenty  elders  fall  down  before  the  Lamb,  having 
everyone  of  them  harps,  and  golden  vials  full  of 
incense,  which  is  the  prayers  of  saints.'  Also,  he 
saw  an  angel  come  and  stand  before  God  at  the 
altar,  '  having  a  golden  censer ;  and  there  was 
given  unto  him  much  incense ;  that  he  should 
offer  it  with  the  prayers  of  all  saints  upon  the 
golden  altar  which  was  before  the  throne.  And 
the  smoke  of  the  incense  which  came  with  the 
prayers  of  the  saints,  ascended  up  before  God  out 
of  the  angel's  hand.' 

Here  we  are  taught  that  glorified  men  and  angels 
present  the  prayers  of  the  saints,  the  children  of 
Christ's  Kingdom,  to  the  Lamb.  In  Hades  the 
rich  man  interceded  for  his  brethren  with  Abraham. 
Are  the  members  of  Christ's  body  on  earth  to 
be  the  only  ones  debarred  from  the  inestimable 
privilege  of  intercessory  prayer  for  all  who  need  it, 
wherever  they  may  be  ?  '  The  liberal  soul  shall  be 
made  fat;  and  he  that  watereth  shall  be  watered 
also  himself.'  *  He  which  soweth  sparingly  shall 
reap  also  sparingly,  and  he  which  soweth  bountifully 
shall  reap  also  bountifully.'     '  Ask,  and  it  shall  be 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  221 

given  you ;  seek  and  ye  shall  find ;  knock  and  it 
shall  be  opened  unto  you.'  '  Pray  one  for  another, 
that  ye  may  be  healed.  The  effectual  fervent 
prayer  of  a  righteous  man  availeth  much.'  These 
words  were  spoken  by  St.  James,  one  of  the  first 
Bishops  of  the  Church,  who  taught  that  men  must  be 
1  doers  of  the  Word,  and  not  hearers  only.'  Doubt- 
less, the  words  of  his  Master,  '  Why  call  ye  me  Lord, 
Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which  I  say,'  were  still 
ringing  in  his  ears,  when  he  wrote  his  'General 
Epistle.'  That  epistle  is  a  model  charge  for  Bishops 
of  all  ages  ;  for  it  is  so  fully  in  touch  with  the 
Divine  and  human  parts  of  man's  nature.  In  this 
particular  St.  James  is  a  remarkable  anticipation  of 
some  of  the  most  successful  teachers  of  men.  His 
were  no  faltering  utterances.  Expediency  was  no 
part  of  his  creed.  Temporizing  was  no  part  of  his 
practice.  He  was  far  beyond  the  mere  endurance 
of  the  trials  which  fall  to  the  lot  of  all  who  walk  in 
the  way  of  the  Cross  when  he  wrote, '  My  brethren, 
count  it  all  joy  when  ye  fall  into  divers  temptations  ; 
knowing  this,  that  the  trying  of  your  faith  worketh 
patience.  But  let  patience  have  her  perfect  work, 
that  ye  may  be  perfect  and  entire,  wanting  nothing.' 
His  was  the  faith  that  could  remove  mountains  ; 
and  of  what  God  had  given  him  he,  as  a  faithful 
steward,  dispensed  to  others.  But  lest  any  should 
pride  themselves  upon  extraordinary  gifts  and 
graces,  he  warns  them,  'Do  not  err,  my  beloved 


222  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

brethren.  Every  good  gift  and  every  perfect 
gift  is  from  above,  and  cometh  down  from  the 
Father  of  lights,  with  whom  is  no  variableness, 
neither  shadow  of  turning.'  Lest  any  should  be 
satisfied  with  the  cloak  of  religion,  he  writes,  'If 
any  man  among  you  seem  to  be  religious,  and 
bridleth  not  his  tongue,  this  man's  religion  is  vain. 
Pure  religion  and  undefiled  before  God  and  the 
Father  is  this  :  to  visit  the  fatherless  and  widows 
in  their  affliction,  and  to  keep  himself  unspotted 
from  the  world.'  No  lesson  was  ever  more  needed 
in  the  world,  in  any  period  of  the  world's  history, 
than  this.  St.  James  tells  his  readers  of  the  fruits 
of  their  fallen  human  nature ;  of  the  hardness  and 
pride  of  the  rich  in  their  dealings  with  the  poor ; 
and  then  he  appeals  to  their  Divine  nature. 
1  Hearken,  my  beloved  brethren,  Hath  not  God 
chosen  the  poor  of  this  world,  rich  in  faith,  and 
heirs  of  that  kingdom  which  He  hath  promised  to 
them  that  love  Him  ?'  When  he  has  warned  man 
of  the  just  judgment,  '  For  he  shall  have  judgment 
without  mercy,  that  hath  showed  no  mercy,'  he 
asks,  '  What  doth  it  profit,  my  brethren,  though  a 
man  say  he  hath  faith,  and  have  not  works  ?  Can 
faith  save  him  ?'  St.  James  answers  the  question 
in  an  eloquent  passage  on  the  relation  between 
faith  and  works.  As  one  reads  it  in  the  light  of 
the  nineteenth-century  teaching  that  is  put  forth  by 
some  easy-going  Christians,  who  believe  that  since 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  223 

Christ  has  died  for  them,  they  have  nothing  to  do 
for  Him  or  for  themselves,  the  fact  that  the  Holy 
Scriptures  were  written  for  all  time,  and  that  holy 
men  of  old  wrote  under  the  direct  influence  of  the 
Spirit  of  Truth,  forces  itself  upon  the  mind.  The 
power  of  Truth  embodied  in  the  question,  'Wilt 
thou  know,  O  vain  man,  that  faith  without  works 
is  dead  ?'  makes  itself  felt,  as  the  words  one  by  one 
fall  upon  the  mind,  the  heart,  and  the  conscience 
of  man,  as  only  absolute  truth  can.  Then  St. 
James  deals  with  that  great  gift  of  God  to  man, 
the  gift  of  speech,  which  distinguishes  him  from  all 
other  creatures :  and  he  shows  that  the  organ  of 
speech  has,  through  sin,  become  'an  unruly  evil, 
full  of  deadly  poison.'  Truly,  the  father  of  lies  has 
done,  and  is  doing,  his  work  in  the  world  well ;  for 
everywhere  now  falsehood  and  its  attendant  evils 
prevail ;  even  as  they  did  when  St.  James  wrote  of 
the  sins  of  the  tongue,  and  added,  in  the  meek 
and  lowly  spirit  of  his  Lord,  '  My  brethren,  these 
things  ought  not  so  to  be.'  Again,  he  charges  them, 
'Submit  yourselves  therefore  to  God.  Resist  the 
devil,  and  he  will  flee  from  you.  Draw  nigh  to 
God,  and  He  will  draw  nigh  to  you.'  He  tells 
them,  '  There  is  one  Lawgiver,  who  is  able  to  save 
and  to  destroy,'  and  warns  them  of  the  uncertainty 
of  life.  '  Go  to  now,  ye  that  say,  To-day  or  to- 
morrow we  will  go  into  such  a  city,  and  continue 
there   a   year,   and    buy  and   sell,  and  get  gain  : 


224  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

whereas  ye  know  not  what  shall  be  on  the  morrow. 
For  what  is  your  life  ?  It  is  even  a  vapour,  that 
appeareth  for  a  little  while,  and  then  vanisheth 
away.'  The  practical,  searching  words,  '  To  him 
that  knoweth  to  do  good,  and  doeth  it  not,  to  him 
it  is  sin,'  are  followed  by  his  withering  condemna- 
tion of  the  rich,  who  defraud  the  poor  and  condemn 
the  just  j  who  heap  up  treasure,  and  are  wanton. 
St.  James  concludes  with  an  exhortation  to  patience 
and  prayer,  and  urges  his  brethren  to  take  'the 
prophets,  who  have  spoken  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  for  an  example  of  suffering  affliction  and  of 
patience.' 

As  there  is  no  such  thing  as  chance  in  the 
universe,  we  look  for  design  in  all  things,  and  find 
it  everywhere.  In  the  history  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ,  there  is  no  more  perfect  bit  of  mosaic  work 
to  be  found  than  the  account  of  the  appointment 
of  the  first  Bishop  of  Jerusalem. 

i.  His  name  was  James,  a  '  supplanter,'  or 
'underminer.'  The  Church  was  to  act  like  leaven 
in  the  world ;  to  undermine  and  change  the  existing 
state  of  religion  and  morals ;  in  short,  to  supplant 
all  other  religions  as  time  rolled  on,  and  in  the  end 
to  reign  supreme. 

2.  The  See  of  the  first  Bishop  was  Jerusalem, 
'the  vision  of  peace.'  The  seat  of  this  Bishopric 
was  soon  to  be  destroyed  ;  as  if  to  teach  men  that 
the   Church   was  not  a  temporal,  but  a  spiritual 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  225 

organization ;  and  that,  as  she  was  born  from  above, 
and  set  up  on  earth  as  God's  witness  for  the 
exposition  of  Truth,  her  visible  aspect  must  make 
it  impossible  for  man  to  believe  that  her  progressive 
strength,  her  victorious  march  through  the  world, 
and  her  ultimate  triumph  over  the  powers  of  dark- 
ness, were  due  merely  to  the  human  energy  of  her 
members, 

3.  As  Bishop  of  the  Mother  of  all  Churches,  St. 
James  presided  at  the  first  General  Council  at 
Jerusalem  ;  and  after  St.  Peter  and  others  had 
delivered  their  addresses,  he  pronounced  judgment. 
None  questioned  his  authority.  He  said,  'My 
sentence  is,'  and  all  present,  from  the  least  to  the 
greatest,  submitted  to  his  judgment  :  a  simple 
historical  fact,  recorded  in  Holy  Scripture,  which 
nullifies  the  subsequent  Petrine  claim,  that  Christ 
when  on  earth  ordained  St.  Peter  as  Head  of  the 
visible  Church. 

The  only  Head  that  the  Church  universal  ever 
has  acknowledged,  or  ever  will,  is  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  It  is  the  glory  of  the  Church  that  her 
Head  is  in  heaven.  We  do  not,  when  thinking  of 
the  Head  of  the  Church,  realize  as  fully  as  we 
ought  to  do  that  He  is  a  Man :  as  man  withdrawn 
from  mortal  sight  for  a  time,  as  God,  ever  with  His 
Church  ;  thus  connecting  heaven  and  earth,  thus 
uniting  the  Divine  and  human. 

Profound  in  depth  and  marvellous  in  beauty  is 

15 


226  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

the  character  of  St.  John  the  Divine.  He  is  an 
illustration  of  those  who  fulfil  their  mission  in  the 
kingdoms  of  nature  and  grace  by  diligently  and 
silently  working  out  the  purpose  of  their  being,  as 
in  God's  sight.  They  live  under  the  shadow  of 
the  Cross  with  a  halo  of  light  around  them ;  and 
though  storms  rage  and  the  troubled  waters  which 
dash  upon  the  shore  of  Time  often  threaten  to 
overwhelm  them,  they  are  kept  by  the  power  of 
God ;  and  those  who  look  through  the  veil  that 
divides  the  visible  and  the  invisible  can  see  that 
the  halo  of  light  is  caused  by  a  greater  Light  than 
the  sun  of  our  solar  system  ;  for  the  clouds  which 
darken  the  natural  world  cannot  intercept  it. 

The  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  who  was  pronounced 
by  an  archangel  to  be  '  full  of  grace,'  and  therefore 
chosen  to  be  the  mother  of  Jesus,  is  His  mother 
still ;  and  in  accordance  with  God's  law  must  ever 
be  nearer  to  her  Divine  Son  than  any  other  human 
being  can  be;  but  next  to  her  seems  to  be  St. 
John,  whose  name  signifies  the  grace  or  gift  of  God. 
It  is  much  to  be  able  to  touch  but  the  fringe  of  the 
garment  of  him  who  lay  upon  the  Saviour's  breast  ; 
for  in  doing  this  we  know  that  some  virtue  will 
flow  into  our  souls.  It  is  much  to  get  within  the 
outermost  circle  of  the  glories  which  encircle  the 
1  beloved  disciple,'  for  at  once  we  have  light  enough 
to  discern  the  greatness  of  humility,  which  was  so 
conspicuous  a  trait  in  his  character.     Just  as  when 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  227 

standing  beneath  the  shadow  of  a  lofty  mountain, 
with  nothing  but  the  far-off  light  of  stars  to  dispel 
the  total  darkness,  we  look  up  and  see  in  the  in- 
finite vastness   of  the    blue   vault   above   us   one 
shining  world  after  another  revealing  itself  to  our 
mortal  vision ;  so  as  we  study  the  character  of  St.  I 
John  we  see  unfolded  the  attributes  which  bring 
man  into  closest  communion  with  his  Maker,  and 
which  enable  him  to  soar  on  the  wings  of  love  from 
the  valley  of  earth  to  the  heights  of  heaven,  and 
there  see  a  vision  of  the  glory  that  shall  be  here-' 
after.     St.  John  ever  seemed  to  be  nearest  to  his 
Divine   Master,  and  he  was  left  on  earth  longer 
than  either  of  the  other  apostles :  left,  as  it  would 
seem,  because  he   was    the  apostle    of  love,  and' 
because  the  great  God  of  love  would  have  linger- 
ing still  on  earth,  in  human  form,  the  highest  type 
of  His  own   immortal   love   for   man.       St.  John 
was  the  only  apostle  who  stood  with  St.  Mary  and 
Mary  Magdalene  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross  during 
the  three  hours'  agony  ;  and  it  is  there  that  we  must 
all   be   in    spirit    if  we  would    catch   glimpses  of 
spiritual  realities,  and  learn  to  understand  in  any 
measure  the  visions  that  were  vouchsafed  to  St. 
John.     What  a  typical  group  that  was  on  Calvary  ! 
The    God    of  the   universe,    incarnate,  sacrificing 
Himself  for  mankind,  and  making  propitiation  for 
the  sins  of  the  whole  world.     At  the  foot  of  the 
Cross  Purity,  Love  and  Penitence.     God  and  angels 


228  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

looked  on  from  above.  The  world  looked  on  from 
beneath,  and  mocked.  The  Christ  of  God  looked 
down  from  the  Altar  of  Sacrifice  on  His  mother 
and  on  the  disciple  whom  He  loved,  and  gave 
them  to  each  other.  As  God,  Christ  loved  them 
both  with  the  Divine  love  that  was  fully  mani- 
fested by  the  Incarnation.  As  perfect  man  He 
loved  His  mother  with  a  perfect  human  love.  In 
one  sense  she  was  all  that  He  could  call  His  own 
in  the  world  that  He  had  created  j  and  as  such  He 
gave  her  to  that  disciple  who  remained  faithful 
when  all  the  others  had  forsaken  Him.  St.  John 
had  the  spirit  of  power  and  of  love ;  and  from  the 
moment  when  Jesus  said  to  His  mother,  '  Behold 
thy  Son,'  that  disciple  was  to  her  in  name  and 
reality  the *  gift  of  God,'  and  he  took  her  unto  his 
own  home. 

Our  Lord  taught  that  as  'every  good  tree  bringeth 
forth  good  fruit ;  but  a  corrupt  tree  bringeth  forth 
evil  fruit,'  so  it  is  with  man,  '  ye  shall  know  them 
by  their  fruits.'  St.  Paul  tells  us  that  '  the  fruit 
of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering, 
gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temperance.' 
That  none  of  these  fruits  were  wanting  in  the  home 
that  was  provided  for  the  Blessed  Virgin  on  earth 
until  the  time  should  come  when  she  would  be 
again  and  for  ever  with  her  Divine  Son  we  may  be 
well  assured ;  but  none  may  know — for  it  has  not 
been  revealed — how  widespread  has  been  the  in- 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  229 

fluence  of  the  lives  of  St.  Mary  and  St.  John  :  none 
the  less  real  and  lasting,  spiritually  and  practically, 
because  they  are  not  recorded.  Spiritual  things 
are  spiritually  discerned,  and  the  Christ-like  lives 
of  the  Virgin  and  St.  John  would  not  be  under- 
stood by  the  world.  Nevertheless,  all  who  came 
within  their  circle  of  influence,  and  gave  heed  to 
the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  became  centres  of 
light  and  attraction  to  others  ;  and  the  last  great 
day  will  reveal  the  number  of  men  and  women  who 
through  nearly  two  thousand  years  have  walked  in 
the  footprints  of  the  '  Mother  of  Jesus '  and  the 
'  beloved  disciple.' 

No  one  can  read  carefully  the  Gospel  of  St. 
John  without  being  struck  with  its  high  spiritual 
tone.  It  opens  out  to  our  view  more  of  heaven 
than  either  of  the  other  Gospels,  for  Christ's  inner 
life,  and  His  longing  for  the  salvation  of  man,  are 
written  as  in  letters  of  light.  The  great  intercessory 
prayer  to  His  Father  lays  bare  the  heart  of  Jesus, 
and  draws  every  loving  soul  nearer  to  its  God. 
From  beginning  to  end  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  is 
superhuman.  No  wonder,  then,  that  those  who 
close  their  eyes  to  the  light  that  will  alone  enable 
them  to  see  the  truth  cannot  understand  it.  No 
wonder  that  controversy  has  raged  round  the  sacra- 
mental teachings  of  our  Lord  as  recorded  by  St. 
John.  The  followers  of  St.  John  know  that  his 
testimony  is   true,    and  they  bear   witness  to  the 


230  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

truth  :  they  '  love  not  the  world,  neither  the  things 
that  are  in  the  world ';  for  they  know  that  ■  all  that 
is  in  the  world,  the  lust  of  the  flesh  and  the  lust  of 
the  eyes,  and  the  pride  of  life,  is  not  of  the  Father, 
but  is  of  the  world.  And  the  world  passeth  away 
and  the  lust  thereof;  but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of 
God  abideth  for  ever.' 

1  On  champions,  blest,  in  Jesus'  name, 
Short  be  your  strife,  your  triumph  full, 
Till  every  heart  have  caught  your  flame, 
And,  lightened  of  the  world's  misrule, 
Ye  soar  those  elder  saints  to  meet, 
Gathered  long  since  at  Jesus'  feet, 
No  world  of  passions  to  destroy, 
Your  prayers  and  struggles  o'er,  your  task  all  praise 
and  joy.'* 

St.  Peter,  another  of  the  three  most  eminent 
apostles,  is  an  illustration  of  types  of  believers  who 
are  more  visible  to  the  world  than  the  types  of  St. 
John.  Disciples  after  St.  John's  pattern  live  in 
shady  walks  untrodden  by  men  of  the  world ;  and 
their  work,  like  that  of  the  coral-insect,  goes  on  un- 
seen for  the  most  part  by  the  eye  of  man.  The 
practical  character  of  St.  Peter  is  one  which  the 
great  mass  of  mankind  can  understand  better  than 
the  mystical  character  of  St.  John  ;  therefore,  so  far 
as  human  judgment  enables  men  to  form  a  correct 
opinion,  the  followers  of  St.  Peter  are  likely  to  far 
out-number  those  of  St.  John.  The  Founder  of 
the  Church,  as  the  Creator  and  Lawgiver  of  the 
*  Keble. 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  231 

universe,  knew  precisely  how  the  law  of  conformity 
to  type  would  work  in  the  spiritual  as  in  the  natural 
world,  and  He  appointed  agents  to  establish  and 
carry  on  the  work  of  the  new  kingdom  who  should 
be  most  precisely  fitted  for  that  work  in  its  various 
forms  and  relations.  None  can  fail  to  see  how 
eminently  the  zeal  that  was  a  prominent  character- 
istic of  St.  Peter  qualified  him  for  the  work  which 
he  had  to  do.  It  also  served  another  purpose.  It 
was  the  means  by  which  he  learned  his  own  weak- 
ness and  imperfection ;  for  it  led  him  into  scenes 
of  trial  and  temptation  where  his  boasted  faith  and 
love  and  courage  failed.  Christ  knew  all  that  it 
would  one  day  be  in  the  power  of  His  disciple  to 
accomplish  by  reason  of  his  strong  will,  and  the 
general  force  of  his  character ;  but  he  had  to  be 
disciplined  for  his  work ;  he  had  to  learn  that  his 
strength  was  weakness  unless  it  was  supported  by 
the  Divine  power  that  was  in  him.  Whatever 
lingering  thoughts  of  self-sufficiency  may  have  been 
cherished  by  St.  Peter  after  his  many  falls  must  all 
have  vanished  when  Christ  said  to  him,  '  When 
thou  art  converted,  strengthen  thy  brethren.' 

The  life  of  St.  Peter  shadows  forth  the  history 
of  that  part  of  the  Catholic  Church  which  has 
made  St.  Peter  its  patron  saint.  The  same  idiosyn- 
cracies  which  distinguished  St.  Peter  are  to  be 
found  in  the  Church  which  is  called  after  his  name, 
and  also  in  the  individual  members  of  that  Church. 


232  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

The  faith  and  the  love  of  St.  Peter  were  often 
manifested,  but  before  his  conversion  they  as  often 
failed.  He  tried  in  his  own  strength  to  walk  upon 
the  sea  and  failed.  He  followed  our  Lord  into  the 
hall  of  judgment  and  in  the  moment  of  tempta- 
tion failed.  The  zeal  of  St.  Peter  would  have  led 
him  to  make  three  tabernacles  on  the  Mount  of 
Transfiguration — one  for  Christ,  one  for  Moses, 
and  one  for  Elias ;  but  his  zeal  was  not  according 
to  knowledge. 

When  tracing  the  life  of  St.  Peter  and  the  history 
of  the  Roman  Church  the  truth  of  the  old  proverb, 
'Coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before,'  is  borne 
in  upon  the  mind.  The  lie  in  Pilate's  judgment- 
hall  is  a  prefigurement  of  a  long  series  of  lies  and 
forgeries  endorsed  by  Roman  authority  to  prop  up 
the  claims  of  the  Papacy  to  universal  dominion. 
Peter's  striking  with  the  sword  symbolizes  the 
carnal  weapons  which  Rome  used  so  freely  in  the 
Middle  Ages  ;  his  cursing,  Rome's  anathemas  ;  his 
self-confidence,  Rome's  presumption ;  his  hasty 
words,  which  drew  upon  him  the  stern  rebuke  of  the 
Saviour,  '  Get  thee  behind  Me,  Satan.'  prefigures  the 
arrogance  of  Rome,  which  has  always  impeded  the 
work  of  the  Universal  Church  by  making  her 
appear  to  the  world  less  powerful  than  she  is ; 
because  the  world  sees  only  her  outwardly  divided 
state,  caused  by  the  sins  of  her  members,  and 
naturally  asks,   'Where  is    the  one   Catholic  and 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  233 

Apostolic  Church  which  you  Christians  profess 
to  believe  in  ?'  Her  children  know.  She  is  where 
Christ  laid  the  foundation-stones  ;  she  is  in  the 
world,  where  she  has  fought  and  conquered,  and 
where  she  fights  and  conquers  now ;  for  the  arm 
of  the  God  of  battles  is  her  defence  and  shield. 
She  must  fight  to  the  end,  until  the  Church  Mili- 
tant becomes  the  Church  Triumphant.  Meanwhile,  * 
she  must  give  heed  to  the  lessons  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture, for  they  'were  written  for  our  learning.' 

Not  without  a  sufficient  reason  did  our  Lord  choose 
Simon's  ship,  and  sit  down  in  it  to  teach  the  people. 
Past,  present,  and  future  are  one  to  Him.  The 
Church  of  St.  Peter,  with  all  its  record  of  faith  and 
works,  with  its  later  exclusive  pretensions  to  the 
authority  and  infallibility  which  belong  to  the 
Catholic  Church  in  every  land  ;  her  history  as  a 
National  Church,  her  schismatical  art  in  altering 
the  (Ecumenical  creed  of  the  Church  and  causing 
the  schism  between  East  and  West;  the  lives  of 
her  primates  and  of  her  individual  members,  were 
all  known  to  the  Church's  Lord.  The  use  which 
the  Popes  of  Rome  would  make  of  the  fact  that 
He  sat  down  and  taught  the  multitude  from  Peter's 
ship  was  not  hidden  from  Him  who  knoweth  all 
things.  Nevertheless,  from  that  ship  the  Lord 
taught,  and  '  when  He  had  left  speaking,'  it  was  to 
Simon  Peter  that  the  command  was  given,  '  Launch 
out  into  the  deep,  and  let  down  your  nets  for  a 


234  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

draught.  And  Simon  Peter  answering  him  said 
unto  him,  Master,  we  have  toiled  all  the  night  and 
have  taken  nothing  ;  nevertheless,  at  thy  word  I 
will  let  down  the  net.'  Simon's  words  were  fol- 
lowed by  an  act  of  obedience  which  brought  its 
reward,  for  'they  inclosed  a  great  multitude  of 
fishes.'  Then  we  are  told,  'their  net  brake.'  It 
brake,  although  Jesus  was  in  the  ship.  Man  had 
made  the  net.  And  men  now  use,  and  in  time  past 
have  used,  various  humanly-devised  means  to  catch 
men,  and  Peter's  net  and  Peter's  ship,  which  are 
types  of  Peter's  faith  and  Church,  were  no  excep- 
tion to  the  law  of  imperfection  which  rules  in  all 
earthly  things.  Then  is  given  in  the  inspired 
record  what  no  member  of  the  Catholic  Church 
should  ever  forget.  When  Simon's  net  brake 
they  beckoned  unto  their  partners  which  were  in 
the  other  ship  that  they  should  come  and  help  them. 
And  they  came.'  What  was  the  result?  Both 
ships  were  filled  with  the  draught  of  fishes. 
Success  followed  the  act  of  obedience  to  Christ's 
command  combined  with  united  action.  But  what 
followed?  The  ships  began  to  sink.  The  Lord 
was  there,  and  His  servants  were  acting  in  unison 
under  His  command  ;  but,  humanly  speaking,  the 
work  was  too  great.  As  a  trial  of  faith  the  ships 
were  allowed  to  begin  to  sink,  and  simultaneously 
the  faith  of  Simon  failed,  for  '  he  fell  down  at  Jesus' 
knees,  saying,  Depart  from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  235 

man,  O  Lord.'  Here  is  a  clear  foreshadowing  of 
the  career  of  the  Roman  Church.  Simon's  loss  of 
faith  and  his  words, '  Depart  from  me/  seem  in  the 
clearer  light  of  fulfilled  prophecy  to  anticipate  the 
fear  that  the  Church  of  St.  Peter  was  in  danger 
when  the  Isidorean  decretals,  which  elevate  the 
Bishop  of  Rome  to  the  throne  of  Christ,  were 
promulgated ;  and  the  still  existing  fear  that  the 
old  ship  may  even  yet  founder;  for  the  decretals, 
though  proved  to  be  forgeries  and  admitted  to  be 
so  by  Roman  authority,  are  still  quoted  and  used 
by  Rome  to  uphold  the  dogma  of  Papal  infallibility. 
We  are  not  told  that  the  faith  of  St.  James  and  St. 
John  faltered,  but  we  know  that  when  Simon's 
faith  failed  both  ships  began  to  sink ;  and  we  know 
also  that  when  corruptions  crept  into  that  portion 
of  the  Church  which  was  established  at  Rome,  and 
additions  were  made  to  the  '  faith  once  for  all 
delivered  to  the  saints,'  other  portions  of  the 
Church  left  their  first  love.  To  the  world  the 
Church  may  seem  to  be  sinking,  but  her  children 
have  no  fear  for  her.  At  the  moment  when  the 
waters  of  Genesareth  seemed  about  to  close  over 
the  ships,  the  words  fell  from  the  lips  of  Jesus, 
1  Fear  not,'  and  the  mountains  that  surround  the 
lake  gave  back  the  sound ;  and  on  and  on  through 
the  centuries  those  words  have  been  echoed,  touch- 
ing the  hearts  and  reviving  the  faith  of  all  loyal 
members    of  the    Church.      And    now    that    the 


M 


236  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

shadows  of  evening  seem  to  be  gathering  around 
us,  and  watchmen  are  warning  the  unbelieving  world 
that  night  is  at  hand,  and  that  the  Judge  is  at  the 
door,  we  hear  those  words  again  and  look  up, 
knowing  that  our  redemption  draweth  nigh. 

Some  episodes  of  St.  Peter's  life  must  be  classed 
among  the  most  painful  ones  of  Holy  Scripture. 
They  are  recorded  for  the  benefit  of  mankind,  and 
as  warnings  to  those  who  are  of  like  disposition. 
The  facts  of  history  cannot  be  blotted  out  because 
men  refuse  to  acknowledge  them,  or  remain  wil- 
fully ignorant  of  them  ;  and  the  greatest  admirers 
of  St.  Peter  after  his  conversion  and  repentance, 
are  those  who  realize  the  disgrace  of  his  fall,  even 
as  he  realized  it  himself.  Nothing  shows  the 
nobility  of  his  nature  more  than  the  fact  that  the 
Gospel  of  St.  Mark  was  written  at  his  dictation. 
The  penitent  humility  of  St.  Peter  may  have 
been  the  reason  for  his  suppressing  his  own  name 
and  substituting  that  of  his  amanuensis.  It  was 
the  same  spirit  which  led  the  great  Apostle  to 
direct  St.  Mark  to  make  precise  records  of  his 
grievous  falls  as  a  warning  to  future  generations. 

Regarded  from  the  highest  standpoint— which 
none  can  doubt  was  St.  Peter's  own— his  denial  of 
his  Lord  was  a  sin  of  deeper  dye  than  the  betrayal 
of  Judas  ;  and  it  must  have  touched  the  human 
heart  of  Jesus,  and  caused  a  pang  that  would  be 
felt  at  its  core.     We  have  evidence  in  ourselves 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  237 

that  it  was  so  ;  for  we  know  that  the  words  '  What 
thou  doest,  do  quickly,'  were  spoken  by  Christ  to 
Judas  with  calm  dignity;  for  the  disciple  then  lying 
on  Jesus'  breast  tells  us  that  '  no  man  at  the  table 
knew  for  what  intent  He  spake  this  unto  him :  for 
some  thought,  because  Judas  had  the  bag,  that 
Jesus  had  said  unto  him,  Buy  those  things  that  we 
have  need  of  against  the  feast :  or,  that  he  should 
give  something  to  the  poor.'  The  base  denial  of 
even  a  knowledge  of  his  Lord,  following  so  closely 
upon  Peter's  self-glorification — '  Although  all  shall 
be  offended,  yet  will  not  I  ' — was  noticed  only  by 
a  look.  '  The  Lord  turned  and  looked  upon  Peter.' 
It  was  enough.  Divine  love  touched  his  higher 
nature,  and  '  he  went  out  and  wept  bitterly.'  How 
well  a  true  heart,  though  encompassed  with  the 
imperfections  incident  to  humanity,  can  understand 
this !  In  comparison  with  St.  Peter,  Judas  had 
ever  stood  afar  off,  while  St.  Peter  was  one  of  the 
three  most  favoured  disciples.  The  denial  of 
Peter  was  like  a  wife  stabbing  her  husband ;  the 
betrayal  of  Judas  was  more  like  a  servant  deserting 
his  master,  or  a  subject  turning  traitor  to  his  king, 
and  for  a  paltry  bribe  delivering  him  into  the 
hands  of  his  enemies.  In  the  one  case  there  was 
remorse  without  repentance,  and  Judas  went  to  his 
own  place  by  his  own  hand,  and  of  his  own  free 
will,  and  there  he  awaits  his  sentence.  In  the 
other  case,  repentance  immediately   followed  the 


238  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

sin  ;  and  that  the  grace  of  final  perseverance  was 
given  to  St.  Peter  we  know  from  his  after  life  and 
martyrdom.  A  realization  of  the  depth  of  his  fall 
can  alone  enable  us  to  form  an  adequate  concep- 
tion of  the  height  to  which  he  attained.  The  power 
of  united  repentance  and  perseverance  is  nowhere 
more  clearly  demonstrated  than  in  the  case  of  St. 
Peter,  unless  it  be  in  the  case  of  the  woman  who 
came  to  bathe  the  feet  of  Jesus  with  her  tears. 
She  had  been  a  great  sinner ;  but  with  her  whole 
being  she  had  turned  away  from  sin  and  clung  to 
the  feet  of  Jesus  ;  and  the  full  repentance  and  self- 
sacrifice  were  rewarded.  She  loved  much,  because 
He  who  first  loved  her  had  forgiven  much ;  and 
love  of  God  for  Himself  alone  is  a  certain  means 
of  securing  God's  greatest  gifts  and  highest  favours; 
only,  it  must  never  be  forgotten  that  no  thought  of 
reward,  as  such,  must  mingle  with  that  love,  or  its 
perfection  will  be  destroyed.  Love  for  Jesus,  as  her 
Saviour,  was  all  the  woman  had  in  her  heart. 

1  Get  thee  behind  Me,  Satan,'  was  said  to  St. 
Peter  when  he,  in  his  mistaken  zeal,  would  have 
hindered  the  work  of  redemption.  '  Touch  Me 
not,'  was  said  to  Mary  Magdalen,  when  she  would 
have  clung  to  the  feet  of  the  risen  Lord ;  not 
because  He  shrank  from  the  touch  of  mortality,  as, 
but  a  moment  before,  He  had  drawn  her  towards 
Him  by  lovingly  breathing  forth  her  name,  but  to 
teach  her   and   future  ages  the  lesson,  that    even 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  239 

love  must  not  interfere  with  duty,  and  bind  Him  to 
earth,  when  His  work  henceforth  was  to  be  on  His 
mediatorial  throne  in  heaven.  He  had  already 
told  His  disciples,  '  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled  : 
ye  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  Me.  In  My 
Father's  house  are  many  mansions  :  if  it  were  not 
so  I  would  have  told  you.  I  go  to  prepare  a  place 
for  you.  And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you, 
I  will  come  again,  and  receive  you  unto  Myself; 
that  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also.  I  will  not 
leave  you  comfortless.  I  will  come  to  you.'  '  Hath 
He  said,  and  shall  He  not  do  it  ?'  '  Heaven  and 
earth  shall  pass  away,  but  My  word  shall  not  pass 
away.'  *  Touch  Me  not,'  only  meant  '  Do  not  touch 
me  now.'  In  every  Eucharist  those  who  draw 
near  to  partake  of  the  living  Bread  which  came 
down  from  heaven,  touch  the  risen  Christ,  in 
accordance  with  His  own  command,  '  Take,  eat ; 
This  is  My  body  :  This  is  My  blood.'  '  He  that 
eateth  My  flesh,  and  drinketh  My  blood,  dwelleth 
in  Me,  and  I  in  him.' 

The  Church  is  passing  through  a  fiery  trial  in 
this  latter  end  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The 
world  is  bringing  forth  all  her  old  weapons,  and 
forging  new  ones,  wherewith  to  attack  her.  Un- 
belief, in  its  most  deadly  forms,  is  gaining  strength. 
Indifference  is  degenerating  into  contempt;  and 
mere  professors  are  persecuting  the  living  members 
of  the  Church.    But  the  Lord  says,  '  Fear  not ';  *  no 


240  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

weapon  formed  against  thee  shall  prosper;  My 
kindness  shall  not  depart  from  thee,  neither  shall 
the  covenant  of  My  peace  be  removed.'  Now,  as 
of  old,  God  is  in  His  holy  temple.  He  comes  to 
His  Altar-throne,  and  gives  Himself  to  all  who  will 
receive  Him.  But  when  He,  the  Prince  of  Peace, 
and  lover  of  concord,  comes  to  His  Church,  what 
does  He  find  ?  Alas  !  He  finds  discord  where  all 
should  be  harmony  ;  estrangement  where  all  should 
be  brotherly  love  ;  controversy  where  all  should  be 
of  one  mind.  He  hears  the  members  of  His 
Church  profess  their  creed ;  He  sees  them  bringing 
the  little  children  to  Him  through  the  waters  of 
Baptism,  but  He  hears  one  say,  *  I  am  of  the  Greek 
Church ';  and  another,  'I  am  of  the  Roman 
Church  ';  and  a  third,  '  I  am  of  the  Anglican 
Church ';  just  as  in  earlier  days  some  said,  '  I  am 
of  Paul ;  and  I  of  Apollos  ;  and  I  of  Cephas.'  '  Is 
Christ  divided  ?'  Surely  not.  He  Himself  has 
said,  '  I  am  the  Vine,  ye  are  the  branches ';  and 
the  Father  of  Glory  gave  His  Son  to  be  the  '  Head 
over  all  things  to  the  Church,  which  is  His  body.' 
As  the  Catholic  Church  is  then  one  in  Christ,  the 
members  should  confront  the  world  as  one  mighty 
army,  fighting  against  the  evil  that  is  in  the  world, 
instead  of  exhausting  their  strength  and  wasting 
their  precious  time  in  warring  against  each  other. 
In  the  kingdom  of  nature  every  tree  has  its  own 


THE  GREAT  KINGDOM  241 

special  characteristic  ■  its  mode  of  growth,  its  leaves, 
its  blossoms,  and  its  fruits.  By  these  each  tree  is 
known  from  all  others.  There  may  be,  nay,  there 
are,  varieties  of  the  same  tree  or  plant,  but  the 
essential  character  is  plainly  discernible  in  each 
variety,  so  that  the  species  is  at  once  recognised. 
It,  ideally,  is  the  same  in  Christ's  Kingdom,  and 
as  when  we  see  an  acorn  we  know  that  it  grew 
upon  an  oak,  so  when  we  see  men  who  can  prove 
their  claim  to  be  successors  of  the  Apostles,  holding 
the  faith  of  the  Apostles,  teaching  the  Word  of  God 
in  its  entirety,  and  dispensing  the  Sacraments  in 
accordance  with  primitive  usage  and  the  law  of 
the  Church,  we  know  that  they  are  members  of  the 
body  of  Christ,  treading  in  the  footprints  of  the 
apostles,  and  obeying  the  command  of  their  Lord, 
'  Feed  My  sheep.' 

For  those  who  follow  the  Good  Shepherd  there 
is  prepared  an  '  inheritance  incorruptible  and  un- 
dented, and  that  fadeth  not  away.'  By  Baptism 
they  are  made  members  of  the  '  One  Holy,  Catholic, 
and  Apostolic  Church,'  wherever  they  dwell  through- 
out the  whole  world.  They  are  the  stones  which 
St.  Peter  tells  us  are  'built  up  a  spiritual  house, 
an  holy  priesthood,  to  offer  up  spiritual  sacrifices 
acceptable  to  God  by  Jesus  Christ.'  Their  Lord 
has  promised  to  give  to  him  that  overcometh  '  a 
white  stone,  and  in  the  stone  a  new  name  written, 

16 


242  THE  SUPERNATURAL 

which  no  man  knoweth  saving  he  that  receiveth  it ': 
a  name  that  shall  never  be  blotted  out  of  the  book 
of  the  everlasting  Kingdom  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who  is  the  '  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of 
lords.' 


THE    END. 


Elliot  Stock,  62,  Paternoster  Row. 


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